A Twisting Ladder to Heaven
by ServusSmith
Summary: A boy and his poochyena run away from home, pair up with a riolu who has also run away from his home, and live out side of human civilization until they are thrust back into the world of humanity as well as the machinations of Team Helix.
1. Chapter 1: Runaways

A Twisting Ladder to Heaven

Chapter 1: The Runaways

Sparks leap from a flint onto dry moss and kindling and a tiny fire bursts

into life. The small flame chases the darkness to the edges of the small

cavern. I smile as I blow on the flame while holding my brown hair back

with one hand, and gently coax it into a small fire. Smiling at having

successfully started my first fire, I lean back as I add a couple larger pieces

of wood to the small blaze. A poochyena trots around from the other side of

the cavern and sits down next to me. I pet the poochyena with one hand

while sliding the flint into a bright blue backpack with the other before briefly

rummaging around in the pack. When I pull my hand back out I have a

large jar of peanut butter in it.

"I bet i_that/i_ lady is glad we're gone, don't you Rogue?" I say scooping peanut

butter out with my fingers and sticking the big glob in my mouth. Rogue

nods and then opens her mouth expectantly. I smile, and scrape another

scoop of peanut butter out of the jar and into the poochyena's open mouth.

I spin the lid back onto the jar and set the peanut butter aside. Rogue looks

at the jar and then back up at me with a begging look. I sigh as I lean back

against my backpack, "Sorry Rogue, but that's all we are going to eat for

now. We only have that one jar and a couple sandwiches." I pick the

poochyena up and set her down in my lap. "We have to make them last as

long as possible."

Rogue licks my face and curls up against my chest, and we both drift off to

sleep in front of the fire.

~0~

A couple days later, both Rogue and I are sprawled on our backs under the

massive oak that grows over the cave we have called home for the past

two days. Our stomachs growl insistently and Rogue whimpers.

"I know, I'm hungry too, but we don't have any more food." I sigh and climb

to my feet. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. We should

probably go home and beg forgiveness."

Rogue lifts her head sharply at this, and growls.

I frown, "Rogue, we have no food. We will starve."

Rogue leaps to her feet and goes down the tunnel at the base of the oak,

and reemerges with a long object that has a black textured handle. She

drops it at my feet then starts to walk away into the woods. I pick up the

object. It's a machete. I'm pretty sure I didn't pack a machete.

I frown, "When did…" I look up at Rogue who has stopped and turned to

look back at me, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Rogue snarls and snaps her teeth then makes a ripping motion with her

head. I raise a brow, "You mean go out and kill something to eat."

Rogue barks sharply with a nod before darting off. I sigh and chase after

her, i_What the hell why not?/i_

_~0~_

The mudkip plays in the shallows, completely carefree in the small lake it

calls home. Suddenly, there is a loud splash and Rogue bounds through

the water to tackle the mudkip. The two pokémon slide across the surface

of the water as I sprint over with the machete held high overhead. The

mudkip yelps and dives out of the shallows, and away into the depths of the

lake. We stare at the place where the mudkip disappeared in silence for a

long moment. Then something in me snaps.

"GRAAAAH!" I scream as I stomp and splash like a mad man. I start

shrieking every curse word I know, which is a surprising amount for a boy

of only ten and three quarters of year old, and even make up a few. I freeze

suddenly, my face screwing up into what is probably a comical visage of

surprised pain. I step back and in a fit of injured rage reach down and hurl

the large rock that I just kicked on accident, damn thing nearly broke my

toe! Rogue watches the rock sail through the air dispassionately until the

rock hits the surface of the lake and sinks with a loud 'sploosh'. She turns

back to me with raised brows as if to say, 'You done yet?'

I stand there, machete hanging limply at my side, taking deep slow breaths,

and then sigh, "Come on Rogue, let's go look for some berries or

something."

Rogue starts to follow me out of the lake, shaking herself dry as she does

so, but then we both freeze at a furious bellowing behind us. I turn around

slowly to see an enraged feraligatr rising out of the lake with a large gash in

its head. It quickly scans the area before its gaze locks onto us and its eyes

narrow menacingly.

"Rogue. Run."

We both turn and sprint through the trees away from the angry feraligatr. I

glance over my shoulder to see if it was gaining, and it definitely is! I let out

a loud yell as I trip over a tree root and tumble to the ground, the machete

flying out of my hand and into the brush.

I roll over, and scurry backwards just barely avoiding the feraligatr's long

jaws snapping down where my feet had been moments before. I quickly

reverse directions and dive forward. I wrap my arms and legs around the

feraligatr's muzzle to keep it from opening its mouth. I'd heard somewhere

almost all the muscle in their mouths was used for biting down, not leaving

much in the way of opening it. Considering my dad is a pokémon

researcher, I should have plenty of knowledge about pokémon just from

hearing him babble on.

Then again, I never was a very good listener.

Whether or not I could have kept the feraligatr's jaws shut becomes a moot

point as it whips its head violently from side to side and I am slammed into

a tree. The wind is shoved from my chest and my grip fails. I stare up at the

feraligatr as it pulls one of its massive clawed forefeet back and prepares to

turn me into deli cuts. Then, as the claws drop, a grey blur comes in out of

left field to slam into the beast's injured head.

"AIIIIIEEE!" I shriek as the claws tear across my chest, shredding my shirt

and carving a set of parallel furrows into my torso. I roll over, clutching at

my chest, and I crawl away from the furious feraligatr as it tries to get a

bead on whatever attacked it. I manage to get to my feet and start

stumbling away when I hear a yelp followed by a thud. I pause and look

over my shoulder to see Rogue sliding down the base of a tree as the

feraligatr turns on all fours to move in for the kill.

I don't know what happened exactly, but I sure as hell didn't think it through

as I am suddenly scrambling up the feraligatr's back. I reach the top of the

beast and we both freeze in shock. I froze because I just scrambled up a

beast that is easily more than twice my size and a hundred times stonger.

He froze because this is probably more resistance than he has come up

against from his prey in a long time. It turns its head and I find myself

looking into its red eyes. I look past the eyes to Rogue as she struggles to

stand up and remember, i_I promised Mother./i_

The feraligatr bellows angrily as blood pours around my fingers buried in its

eye sockets. Moments later I am flying through the air and into the bushes.

I roll to a stop and groan as I start to get back up. My hand wraps around

something hard. The machete.

I stumble back to where the feraligatr is still standing, and wiping at its face

trying to knock away the pest that is obscuring its vision. I don't see Rogue

anywhere. Suddenly I feel something at my side, it's Rogue. She is

bleeding from a cut on her head but otherwise seems fine. I crouch down

and whisper after a last glance at the feraligatr as it slowly stops clawing at

its face, "I think we found our meal."

I throw out my arm, pointing away from the feraligatr mind you, and shout

as loud as I can, "RUN!"

Rouge takes off while I drop down onto my back and pray this works. I feel

the earth shake as the feraligatr immediately charges at the sound of my

shout with a furious bellowing. As one foot slams down next to my hip I

stab out with the machete.

The steel blade bites into the softer flesh of the feraligatr's neck and I use

all of my strength to hold onto the blade as it plunges into the beast's

throat. The momentum of the animal drives the blade all the way to the

handle and the point sticks out the back of its neck. I find myself being

dragged along the rough ground. The machete is ripped from my hands as

the massive beast rears back clutching at its throat with hands too large

and clumsy to ever hope to remove the machete. iNot that that would

help anyway. /i

I scurry backwards like a startled krabby as the feraligatr looks like it is

about to fall forward on top of me. Fortunately for me, it falls backwards

against an oak tree and crumples to a seated position. The way it's head

fell slightly to the side it seems as though it is giving me one final sightless

glare before it makes a gurgling noise and dies.

I feel a cold nose nuzzling my arm and I smile, "Well, that went better than

expected, don't you think?"

I look down at Rogue's incredulous expression and my smile widens into a

lopsided grin. "What? You don't think I planned it that way?"

Rogue just huffs and starts licking my wounds. I wince as I chuckle, starting

to feel the crash portion of my adrenaline high kick in. My entire body is

shaking badly and my wounds are starting to hurt again. I push Rogue's

head away from my wounds, but she won't have any of that and just

pushes her head back in.

I shakily climb to my feet and stumble over to the feraligatr. I wrap both

hands around the handle and start yanking on it. However, the weapon

refuses to budge.

I growl, and put one foot on the dead animal's collar bone. When that

doesn't work, I bring my other foot up and plant it firmly on the other side of

the blade and put my entire body into it. I can feel it begin to slide out and I

redouble my efforts.

I only have a split second to contemplate just how stupid a move I just

made as the machete suddenly stops resisting and I find myself airborne

for the second time. Then my head hits something hard and everything

goes black.

`0'

I groan as I come too, and am immediately greeted by a tongue on my face

and a little whine. I open my eyes to find Rogue standing next to my head

and giving me a concerned look as the sky behind her is turning a nice

shade of pink as the sun sets. I must have been out for quite a while.

"I'm fine." I say with a grimace as I sit up and gently rub the pidgey egg on

the back of my head, "Just feel like an idiot."

Rogue yips with a bemused look on her muzzle. I glance down at her and

raise a brow, I can't understand what she says, but I get the distinct feeling

that it wasn't a compliment. "Fine, like more of an idiot than usual."

I start to stand up but freeze when I hear a number of warning growls. I

look up as a trio of mightyena and a few poochyena stalks out of the brush

to stand between us and the dead feraligatr. I hear a rustling behind us and

a glance over my shoulder shows yet another trio of the large canines,

each of them as tall as me.

My left hand starts roaming over the ground looking for the machete as I

turn my head back to the front only to get an eyeful of teeth. I quickly shut

my eyes again and wait for the teeth to close around my head or throat.

The mightyena's hot breath blows over my face as it huffs and I flinch. The

mightyena moves away from me and Rogue growls something next to me

as I hear a wet ripping noise. I open my eyes again to see the mightyenas

tearing into the feraligatr.

I look down and find the machete before I leap to my feet and shout, "HEY!

THAT'S OURS!"

The lead mightyena whirls on me with a vicious snarl that makes me flinch

as the others stop and look at me. I try to keep the machete in my white

knuckle grip from shaking as I swallow, before continuing with as much

bravado as I can muster, "We killed it, and we are going to eat some of it."

The mightyena snorts derisively, as if asking how a mere pair of pups could

bring down the beast behind it. I turn the blade so that the mightyena can

see the dried blood that is caked on the steel, and it suddenly seems to

have a little more respect for me, but it isn't about to turn over a meal like

this.

Rogue takes a step forward and I hear a crackle of electricity that causes

both mine and the mightyena's gaze to shoot down to her as electrical

energy sparks move through her fur. It suddenly occurs to me that I never

figured out all the moves that she hatched with. I turn back to the

mightyena to find that three of the others are now backing him up. This is

not looking good, but I am not leaving here without something to eat, and a

trophy.

"Listen, we are just two and you are more." I say, my voice cracking as I

look to make a deal, "We only want a pup's share each, and the skull."

At the mention of the skull Rogue looks up at me with a questioning look. I

ignore her and focus on the alpha as I lower the blade slightly, "Your

choice, fight and risk losing pack mates, or just let us get a quick bite and

then leave us the skull."

The mightyena considers this for a moment then turns and barks to the

others. I grin as a path to the body opens up. I start walking forward while

Rogue hangs back for a bit; watching as I kneel down and start tearing at

the flesh with the serrated back edge of the machete, working to take a

chunk out of the thigh. When she sees that the pack is seriously going to let

us take a portion, she dashes forward and begins tearing at the meat of the

other thigh with her fangs.

Before long, I have a bloody chunk of flesh in my hands and Rogue is

licking blood from her muzzle as we quickly make room for the mightyena

and their pups to eat, which they do with far less precision than myself and

Rogue used. I take a bite of the red meat in my hand and chew forcefully

as I watch the carnage.

I glance down at Rogue and gesture with my machete, "Let's go find some

berries."

-0-

Later as the sun vanishes completely and night begins in earnest, I am

gingerly carrying the heavy feraligatr skull. The pale bone has been

cleaned of all flesh by the teeth and tongues of the mightyena pack. Rogue

is walking a little ahead of me, taking the lead with her better night vision.

She has a slight skip to her step as she trots along the path and both our

spirits are high. Sure, my head hurts and my chest stings a good deal from

the gashes across my chest. But we are alive, and our stomachs are full of

berries. We will show that woman who the worthless ones are.

We both stop when we come in sight of the cave entrance. A pale glow is

coming from inside. Someone is in our home!

I sprint forward and hit my knees outside with a thump. I set the skull down

and look inside. There on the opposite side of the little cave holding my

flashlight in its paws is a riolu. But it doesn't look like any of the riolu

images I have seen before; this one has yellow fur where there should be

blue fur. When he sees me his eyes go even wider and the flashlight starts

to shake, "Please don't hurt me!"

My jaw practically hits the dirt, i_He can talk!/i_

I shake my head and grab the skull before I shuffle through the opening

and into the open cavern. "I'm not going to hurt you. Why would I?"

"To try and catch me." the riolu whimpers, "Like all the other trainers I've

run into."

I laugh, "Do I look like a trainer to you?" The riolu takes a moment to look

me over, then nods. I frown, there are trainers smeared with blood and

wearing shredded shirts? "Well, I'm not. I'm just a runaway."

"Me too." The riolu says, then presses himself back against the far wall as

Rogue slips in to sit next to me with a confused expression on her face.

"What is she doing here?"

I glance at Rogue, "She's with me."

Rogue looks up at me and yips questioningly. I look over to the riolu, "What

did she ask?"

"She asked how you can understand me." the riolu replies, then his eyes go

wide as saucers, "Wait! You can understand me?"

I chuckle, "Yeah, because you are talking in human speech." I pause

looking from the riolu to Rogue as they stare at me, then it dawns on me,

"You aren't speaking English are you?"

The riolu shakes his head fervently and I shrug and crawl over to start

digging in my backpack, "Well, I don't know how, but I can."

I reach out a hand towards the riolu, "Can I see that flashlight?"

I feel the plastic handle slap into my palm and I turn the light on the

contents of the backpack. A couple shirts, a book on wilderness survival,

scissors, a first aid kit, some antiseptic spray and a couple potions. I hand

the flashlight back to the riolu and take out the antiseptic. I strip off my

ruined shirt and wince as it pulls off some of the scabs over my chest and I

start bleeding again. But that needs to happen anyway. I hesitate briefly

before taking a deep breath and fiercely rubbing my chest with the bloody

fabric, painfully stripping off the rest of the scabs.

I shut my eyes and grit my teeth as I quickly spray the antiseptic across my

entire torso. I whimper at the sharp burn followed by the mellower bubbling

sting of the antiseptic at work. The smell of it fills the cave as I lay back

against the backpack.

"What happened to you?" the riolu asks in awe of the wounds.

Rogue yips something and I raise a brow as the riolu turns to stare at the

skull. "You picked a fight with a i_feraligatr_/i?"

I chuckle, "Not intentionally." I pause before wiping my chest off with a wipe

from the first aid kit, "My name's Danny, and she is Rogue."

The riolu looks at me with an awed expression, "I'm Gin."

I smile warmly and reach out a fist, "Welcome to the club, Gin."

Gin reaches out to bump his paw against my fist, but frowns, "Why would

you want me in your club? I'm a freak!"

I chuckle as I shut my eyes and relax. "Gin, we don't discriminate. Besides,

there are people who would kill to get their hands on you. Regardless, you

are one of us as of now. You're one of the Runaways now."

"The Runaways?" Gin asks in confusion.

I open an eye to look at him, "Fine, I'll make a better name tomorrow, but

it'll do for now. Turn off the flashlight and go to sleep."

I feel Rogue sidling up on my right side as Gin turns off the flashlight and

curls up on my left, his head resting on my shoulder. We are going to do it.

We are going to live out here and prove that witch wrong.


	2. Chapter 2: Brothers

A Twisting Ladder to Heaven

Chapter 2: Brothers

I chased Rogue through the house, sliding across the tile of the kitchen in my socks as I tried to take the

corner as sharply as rogue did. I let out a yelp as my feet fly out from under me and I crash into the

stools by the breakfast nook counter with a boom, a crash, and a loud yowl. The yowl was from Buttons

the glameow, who had been snoozing on one of the stools.

Buttons dropped down on top of me and immediately began slashing at my face with her claws. I

scream in surprise and pain as I throw up my arm to protect myself. When I do this she just opens her

mouth and chomps down on my wrist. I begin shouting in earnest as I start shaking my arm to get the

glameow to let go but she holds on tight. Suddenly Rogue is leaping over me with a howl to headbutt

the glameow.

Buttons releases my arm and sprints away with a horrible yowling. I feel tears forming at the corners of

my eyes as I grab Rogue in a big hug, holding her tight to my chest. She slowly starts licking my face then

we both look up at a shrill shout.

"Where is he? Where is that little darkrai spawn, the little brat that hurt my precious Buttons! I'll wring

his neck!"

A tall blonde haired woman storms into the kitchen, her glacier blue eyes blazing with anger. I don't

even have a chance to defend myself before she has me by the collar and is hauling me off my feet. I

immediately begin begging with her, but my pleadings fall on deaf ears as she reaches the door. She

lowers me to the floor as she opens the door and my eyes go wide.

The door doesn't lead outside, not to the outside I grew up with anyway. It's a filthy marsh full of red

glowing eyes. I scream as she grips me with both hands and hurls me out into the marsh. I land with a

splash and come up sputtering. I rub the muck from my eyes then shriek as the feralgatr's jaws close

around my head.

-0-

I bolt upright in a cold sweat, my chest heaving as I take a quick inventory of my limbs to make sure I'm

all there.

"What's going on?" Gin asks groggily rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he sits up.

I glance back at him and shake my head, before getting up and stretching, "Nothing, just a bad dream."

I wince a little as the stretch pulls at the scabs on my chest. I should probably do something to make

sure I don't open them up and get them all dirty again. As I open up my backpack I can hear Rogue

stretching with a yawn. "Good morning Rogue." I say as I dig through the first aid supplies until I find the

roll of bandages and a pair of scissors. I turn to Gin, "Hey, Gin, can you help me wrap my chest?"

Gin nods and I start the wrapping across my chest and pass it to him behind me. the first couple times

around are a little awkward, but once the beginning of the strip is covered it goes rapidly until none of

my gashes are showing. I snip the ribbon and tuck it in to the top, clamping it in place with a little clip. I

twist to make sure the wrapping is snug then nod. I crouch down next to the entrance tunnel and smile

at the other two, "Who's ready to go get some berries?"

-0-

Although not very filling, berries are very abundant and easy to find. Finding the right kind of berry

though, is a little more difficult. "Why are there so many tamato berries!" I exclaim as I uncover another

berry bush full of tamato berries. Rogue barks something and headbutts the tree, causing the ripest of

the berries to fall to the ground where she quickly gobbles them up.

I turn to Gin, who translates for me, "She said that she's not complaining. But I'm with you, I don't like

spicy. Especially for breakfast. Ugh."

I nod, "I like sweet and sour stuff much better, maybe a little bitter."

Gin chuckles as Rogue barks and trots off in the direction of the creek we passed a few minutes prior.

"Okay, we'll see you back at the cave." He tells rogue with a wave, then turns to keep walking with me, "I like the dry ones myself."

Gin and I walk along the path we are on for a while before we spot another berry bush. And it has

berries that aren't red. Gin and I grin at each other before sprinting over and starting to pull the blue

berries off the bush and popping them in our mouths as quickly as we can, juice dribbling out the

corners of our mouths.

We keep going until there is only one berry left on the bush. Gin reaches for it and I slap his paw away.

"No way man, you had more than me."

"Did not!" Gin exclaims indignantly and points to a blue stain on my bandages where the juice dripped

off my chin, "You ate so many you got juice on your chest! That berry is mine!"

I laugh, "Not so fast! You've got berry juice all over yourself too!"

Gin looks down to see several green stains on his belly, but then he gets a smug look on his face, "I'll

fight you for it."

I grin, taking a step back and putting up my hands in a ready stance. "You're on shorty."

Gin laughs, and immediately takes a swing at me. I lean back out of the way and catch his foot as he

turns the rotation of his first swing into a roundhouse kick. I grip his foot in both hands and swing him

around, throwing him to the ground. He slides a little in the loose dust and rolls into a crouch, laughing.

We keep tussling, and I put up a pretty good showing using my greater reach, considering I am obviously

outclassed in skill, never mind strength and speed. Then suddenly the fight gets completely turned

around as I get the riolu in a headlock and pin him on the path.

I grunt as an elbow hits my bandaged chest, "Say uncle!"

"Never!" Gin shouts as he tries to get back on his feet but I don't let him. Finally he stops struggling and

takes a deep breath.

Whatever he was about to say, I don't hear it over the sound of a deafening roar. Gin and I look up to

see a furious arcanine. I swallow hard, "The berry's all yours Gin."

We scramble to our feet and begin sprinting down the path screaming our little heads off. Almost

instantly the arcanine slams into us, probably using a quick attack, and we go sprawling in the grass. I

roll over in time to have the arcanine pin me to the ground with one huge paw on my chest, its claws

beginning to bite into my bandages. It growls something and gets right in my face.

"What growlithe?" Gin exclaims next to me, in a similar predicament with the arcanine's other forepaw

on his chest. "We haven't seen any growlithe have we, Danny?"

I shake my head vehemently, "Nope, sorry, I haven't seen any growl– Oh God!" I start to say then recoil

as much as I can as the arcanine snaps her teeth in my face and lets out a low growl.

I turn to Gin with a begging look, "What did she just say?"

"She says her son went missing, and she tracked his scent to the path, but that it ended there, and that

she found a trainer's scent there." Gin says quickly.

I look back up at the arcanine and shout, "I am not a trainer damnit!" I grab her paw and struggle to lift

it off my chest as I can feel the moistness of blood seeping into the bandages. Her paw doesn't budge

and she actually puts more weight on me. I grunt, and add quickly, "Do I smell like the trainer that took

your son?"

The arcanine takes a deep breath and I can feel my brown hair being lifted up towards her nostrils. Then

she lifts off of us and starts to walk away. As I climb to my feet I kind of feel bad for her, she looks

completely defeated. Then Gin catches me completely off guard, "We can help you get your son back!"

The arcanine freezes, and I stare at Gin as he continues, "You found the trainers scent, so can't you

follow it? Take us with you and we will make sure you get your growlithe back."

I grab the riolu's head ornament, and hiss, "Are you insane? We can't promise that!"

Gin looks at me, surprising me with the dead serious look in his eye. "Yes, we can. At least I can."

I sigh, "Fine, I'm in you are going to need a translator anyway."

The arcanine lowers her body so we can climb on and then takes off down the path.

-0-

A couple minutes later I can see someone up ahead. "What's the plan Gin?"

"Don't have one." is Gin's flat reply. I groan.

"No plan?" I'm about to say more when the arcanine leaps through the air and I let out a yelp of

surprise as we fly over the head of a girl not much older than me. I grip the arcanine's mane with a white

knuckled grip as she whirls in place to face the frightened girl.

She screams and stumbles backwards as a totodile growls at us.

I hop down off the arcanine's back and land in a crouch before straightening up. I reach down for the

machete, which is hanging on a belt like a sword, but don't draw it. "Listen, I don't want to fight, and

quite honestly, I don't think ishe/i-" I jerk a thumb over at the arcanine, "will show much mercy to

your little totodile. So it is in your best interests to cooperate."

The red haired girl stares up at me, more specifically at my bandages, and then at the arcanine. "W-what

do you want?"

"We want you to release the growlithe you kidnapped!" Gin snarls at her, but the girl doesn't take her

eyes off the arcanine and myself.

I shake my head, "Are you deaf? Gin said that you had better release the growlithe you just caught."

The girl looks at me in shock, "Who's Gin?"

I gesture at the riolu who is glaring daggers at her. She gives me a confused look, "How am I supposed to

know what he said? How did you?"

iRight, that's why I'm here./i I shrug, "That is unimportant, what is important is that you return the

growlithe to his mother." I glance at the arcanine who is growling menacingly at the girl, "Or I think she

might hurt you and then there will be all sorts of problems for everyone. The most significant for you

being your likely death."

The girl scrambles to get out a pokeball from her belt and quickly hits the button to release a young

growlithe, he looks a little wet but is otherwise unharmed. When the arcanine sees the pup she lets out

a low whine and begins nuzzling the wet growlithe. I turn back to the girl and hold out my hand, "Give

me the pokeball."

The girl timidly places the ball in my hand and I quickly give the top a quarter twist to the right and the

growlithe glows blue for a moment. I throw the pokeball back to the girl. "You don't have any potions on

hand do you?"

The girl pulls a small container of potion and holds it up. I go to take it from her but the totodile gets in

my way and snaps at me. I recoil, and the machete is suddenly in my hand and lifted over my shoulder

ready to come down on the pokémon's head. The totodile's eyes widen at the sight of the blade and the

trainer dives forward and snatches up her pokémon. Gin gives me an odd look, "Overreacting much?"

"Don't hurt my Gile!" the trainer says shielding the totodile with her body. I sigh and slide the machete

into its sheath before muttering, "Ah, yeah, sorry about that. He and his ilk make me nervous."

Gin taps me on the shoulder and I turn to look at him. "What?"

"I want you to translate something for me." I nod and and he whispers the message in my ear.

I sigh and get down on one knee so I can look the girl in the eye, "Hey, my friend here has a message for

you."

The girl looks up at me, "What does he want to tell me?"

I smile, "He wants you to think about what sort of family you might be stealing a pokémon away from

when you capture him or her. For the most part, everyone out here is somebody's sister, brother,

mother, father, son, or daughter." I pause, "You're a trainer, and you are probably going to want more

pokémon on your team, but just remember that if the pokémon ichooses/i to come with you then

they will also ifight/i for you that much harder."

I grab the potion that the girl dropped and slip it in my pocket before climbing to my feet and dusting

myself off, iGeez, my bandages are sure getting red./i

Gin looks at me with a raised brow when I turn around, "That's not exactly what I told you to tell her."

I shrug, "Close enough."

We turn to get back on the arcanine only to see her taking off with her growlithe pup hanging her jaws

by the scruff of his neck. We stare after her for a moment, then Gin mutters before he starts walking

down the path back towards the cave, "Ungrateful bitch."

I smile and join him. "No kidding."

"Hey wait!"

We turn to see the girl hurrying to catch up to us. I frown, "What do you want?"

She stops, obviously a little flustered, "Well, I was thinking we could travel together. Maybe talk more about your way of training pokémon."

I glance at Gin who rolls his eyes and I shake my head, "First off, I live out here now, and I'm not traveling anywhere. Second, I am not a trainer. I don't train pokémon. I don't catch pokémon. I am not looking to defeat the Elite Four. I am perfectly happy to just live my life with Gin and Rogue along with all the other pokémon in this forest. As far as I'm concerned, Gin and Rogue are my family."

The girl stares at me and after a moment I turn and run to catch up with Gin who never really stopped walking. When I catch up to him he chuckles, "Do you think we'll get back in time for lunch?"

I laugh, "Not a chance in hell. I think we have a better chance of having tea with Darkrai."

"That last one would never happen." Gin says as he makes a face, "I hate tea."

I laugh, "That the only reason?"

Gin laughs, but hollowly, "My stepmother was always saying that my yellow fur was because Darkrai was my 'real' father."

I smile, though not as brightly as before, "Then we may actually be brothers. My stepmother often called me the spawn of Darkrai, usually while throwing me out of the house or slapping me."

We walk in silence for a while as the trees start growing a little thicker around us, telling us we are headed in the right direction. Deeper into the forest. I don't think either of us paid much attention to where the arcanine was taking us since we thought we would be getting a ride back too.

"What happened to your mother?" Gin asks quietly.

"Cancer." I say flatly, "She had been fighting it for as long as I can remember. Then Dad didn't even wait a month before his new girlfriend moved in with her evil glameow. What about your mother?"

"Trainer caught her." Gin says with more than a hint of anger.

I nod, _So that's why he volunteered us so quickly._

After a few moments I clear my throat, "You know, you're pretty good at fighting. I was wondering if you could train me."

Gin smiles and nods. "Sure, but you're better than you think, and you have more guts than I do."

"Bullshit." I say with a snort, "I would have never offered to help an arcanine that just moments before was going to tear me limb from limb."

"And I never would have picked a fight with a feralgatr!" Gin exclaims laughing.

I roll my eyes, "You think I meant to pick a fight?"

"You brought home a skull." Gin points out. "You usually only make trophies out of fights you meant to have."

I shrug, "It was something of an impulse to keep the skull. I threw a rock into a lake, and unfortunately, I hit the feralgatr on the head. I didn't even know it was there. I nearly got both myself and Rogue killed. That's why I want you to train me, so I don't get Rogue killed due to my own stupidity."

Gin nods, "I guess. Though since you're just human, I don't think I'll be able to teach you any moves."

Suddenly Gin starts laughing so hard he can't talk. I watch him laugh, "What?"

"Who ever heard of… a pokémon training a human?" Gin blurts out between laughs.

I chuckle, "Pretty damn weird actually." I put an arm on Gin's shoulder, "How about we just say it's a couple of brothers helping each other train?"

Gin slowly stops laughing, "Then you weren't joking about me being family?"

I frown, "I don't joke about that stuff. We may not be much but we're definitely family."

Gin smiles and shuts his eyes, "I like that."

He keeps walking with a smile on his muzzle and his eyes shut and I just watch out for him. Then a smile creeps across my face as I get an idea. I take a couple longer steps to get ahead of Gin then stop, sticking my leg out.

Gin yelps as he stumbles over my outstretched foot and I laugh, starting to run down the trail. "I'll get you for that!" he shouts after me.

"You'll have to catch me first!" I shout over my shoulder with a laugh. iAfter all, what are brothers for?i


	3. Chapter 3: Hired Help

A Twisting Ladder to Heaven

Ch. 3: Hired Help

The sun was going down and the nightlife was starting to wake up as Gin and I finally managed to get

back to the cave. We both a mess, covered in dirt and exhausted from our continuous scrapping all the

way back. I see Rogue running towards us and wave cheerfully. Only she doesn't stop as she gets closer

and she does not look happy. I realize too late what is happening as she headbutts me in the crotch with

a quickattack.

I sink to my knees clutching at my wounded pride; my vision almost doubling as I go slightly cross-eyed

and fight to keep from retching. I hear buzz and a yelp beside me and Gin is suddenly sprawled next to

me twitching from what I suspect was a thunderfang attack. She then stands in front of us and growls

and barks I don't need a translator to figure out that she is chewing us out for disappearing like that,

though I can't be sure of specifics. I groan and mutter a 'Yes dear' like I have heard my dad say nearly a

million times since the Witch moved in.

I immediately regret saying it as Rogue grabs me by the ear with her teeth and starts trotting into the

cave leaving me with the choice to either follow on my hands and knees or have my ear torn off.

Naturally I opt to follow. Once inside she releases my ear and I curl up on my side as she goes out and

quickly returns dragging Gin by his head ornaments. He just twitches a little as she drags him and I

frown, uncurling slowly. "You okay little brother?" I ask, my voice cracking in spite of myself.

He just kind of gurgles in response to my question. I reach out and gently turn him over so he is on his

side and facing down slightly and some drool runs out of his mouth. iYep, definitely paralyzed./i

I stumble over to where my backpack is and pull out the survival manual and shuffle around until I find

the flashlight. I quickly turn to the page on berries and what they do for pokémon. According to the

book, we need cheri berries to fix Gin's current problem. Rogue is staring at Gin's motionless form with

a confused expression. When she looks at me I shake my head. "You paralyzed him." I say simply, "If you

want to fix him you need to go get some cheri berries."

Rogue just turns her head with a sniff and a short bark, as if to say he deserved it.

I roll my eyes, "Fine, I'll go get them."

-0-

They were harder to find than I expected, but eventually I was able to find a bush and pluck off a cluster

of the small, spicy red berries. I crawl back inside and check with the book again just how I'm supposed

to administer the berries to actually fix the problem; however, it just says that cheri berries cure

paralysis. I shrug and hold the riolu's muzzle so that he won't drown on his own saliva but the berries

won't fall out either and begin putting them in his mouth one by one. When I'm finished he is starting to

resemble a pachurisu the way his cheeks bulge out from all the berries. Still no reaction except for a low

moan. Maybe he needs to actually chew them?

I start manipulating his lower jaw so that the soft berries start to burst and the juices run over his

tongue. His moans gradually shift higher in pitch and then the riolu suddenly jerks his muzzle out of my

grip and bolts upright, shrieking through a mouthful of berries. "OOOMMMM MAAAI GAAAUUB!"

Rogue and I fall over laughing as the riolu starts spitting out berries, pawing frantically at his tongue, still

screaming unintelligibly as tears run down his face until his mouth is empty then he screams, "IT

BUUUURRRRRNNNSSSSS!"

Rogue and I laugh even harder until tears are rolling down our faces as Gin bolts from the cavern. I'm

pretty sure he took a right and made a beeline for the river after that. He came back a few minutes later

and immediately tackled me and started shaking me, "Why did you put i_all/i_ of them in my mouth at

once! You only needed to use _one_!" he pauses to take a deep breath and shift his grip to the sides of

my head before shouting, "ib_**ONE**_**!/i/b**"

I chuckle and shove the riolu off my chest, "Just making sure it worked. I've never used berries to heal

pokémon before and the book didn't specify the number."

Gin doesn't seem convinced and I shrug, starting to undo my chest wrappings. Man, I am a mess, and it

looks like I am going to have to disinfect myself again.

After another round of that spray and a new wrapping I lean back against the backpack, "I don't know

about you guys, but I am beat. Good night."

I switch off the flashlight and feel Rogue and Gin curl up on either side of me. "Good night, big brother."

Gin whispers.

-0-

We wake up the next morning acutely aware of a fourth presence in the cave, because whoever it is

standing on my chest, and they are very fluffy.

"Umm, hello?" I say hesitantly, guessing from the heat rolling off the visitor that they are a fire type. I

hear a growl and a yip. And Gin translates, "It's the growlithe from yesterday. He says he wanted to

thank you for helping his Mommy."

I smile, "You're welcome, but could we meet you outside so I can actually see you?"

The growlithe barks an affirmative and hops off my chest and walks out of the cavern. I soon follow and

find both the growlithe and his arcanine mother outside our cave I nod to her, "Good morning, ma'am."

The growlithe has something in his mouth and he steps forward to set it on the ground in front of me

then barks happily. I pick the item up, and though I'm not certain, I think it looks like a quickclaw

necklace. "Is this for me?"

He nods and I smile, "Thank you." before I slip it on over my head.

Gin comes outside about this time and nods, "It looks good on you, big brother." The arcanine barks

something to us before she leads her son away and disappears into the brush.

I turn to Gin with a smile, "So what was that last bit?"

Gin shrugs, "She said she was going to tell everyone how we helped her. I don't know exactly what she

means though."

I shrug, "I'm going to change into a shirt, and then we'll get something to eat."

I switch into a green shirt with a pikachu on it and after a breakfast of aspear berries Gin and I start

some real training routine of sorts, starting with something kind of like Tai Chi, by the river. While

moving through a slow series of graceful movements he slowly gathers his aura into a sizeable aura

sphere, and then through another series of movements he slowly compresses the sphere, but without

changing its power so that the golf ball sized sphere he ends up with is crackling with energy and arcing

angrily. Then he releases it and when it hits the river it explodes in a bright flash throwing water every

which way, drenching us both.

I stare slack jawed at Gin as the water falls back to earth around us he looks up at me and grins, "Now

you try it."

He carefully leads me through the movements, but nothing happens at all. No surprise to me, I'm only

human. Gin however is not satisfied. "You're not trying." He says accusingly.

I roll my eyes, "Gin, seriously, I'm a human. I can't do things like that."

Gin jabs me roughly in the side, "Wrong!"

"What do you mean 'wrong'?" I exclaim clutching my side, "Aura sphere is a pokemon move!"

Gin shakes his head vehemently, "The i_move/i_ may be, but the basis of it is on controlling you're aura. If

you have an aura, you have the ability to use aura based moves!"

Gin crosses his arms and spreads his feet, "Now we are going to do that again, but this time, relax and

just focus your energy into the space between your hands."

I sigh, "Fine"

We begin to go through the routine again, but this time I actually try. To my surprise, a small globe of

swirling blue energy actually forms between my palms. About the size of a baseball and a little oblong it

rotates rapidly in space. I see Gin grinning out of the corner of my eye. "Good, now focus on

compressing that same energy as we continue."

I follow Gin's direction and the sphere shrinks to about half the size of a cheri berry. Then it suddenly

vanishes.

"Huh?" I say in confusion, losing my focus entirely as I try to figure out where it went.

BOOM!

I fly backwards as the space in front of me explodes violently. I roll backwards and finish on my back

completely disoriented. Gin stands over me and crouches down next to my head, "Are you okay?"

I sit up, "Wha-what happened?"

Gin shrugs after he helps me to my feet, "I'm not sure, but it looks like you super compressed your

sphere then lost focus so it came completely undone."

I dust myself off and chuckle, "I'm just impressed I was able to do it!"

Gin's expression changes suddenly from a grin to a frightened expression. I turn to see a familiar group

of mightyena and poochyena coming out of the bushes. It's the same pack that ate the feralgatr I nod,

"Good morning. I hope we aren't bothering you."

Gin looks at me in shock, but I keep my eyes on the alpha as he lowers his head and growls something

quietly. I poke Gin, who is looking from me to the mightyena and back again. "What did he say?"

Gin shakes himself, "He is asking us for help."

I raise a brow, "How can _we_ help _you_?"

The mightyena raises his head once more and goes on to explain the situation. Apparently, one of the

poochyena has gone missing. They were able to track her scent to a small tunnel. A tunnel which was

too small for any of the mightyena to enter, and they weren't about to send in one of their pups if the

other hadn't come back out yet. They also couldn't determine where the tunnel came out so they were

stuck if they couldn't get someone to help them. Apparently what we had done for the arcanine was

spreading through the forest like wildfire, and the mightyena already knew I was at least capable if I

could bring down a feralgatr, not to mention having guts since I had stood up to them, so, it made sense

to them that I would be able and willing to help.

I look at Gin and he nods slightly. I nod to the mightyena alpha and smile. "Sure. Just let me get my

flashlight."

-0-

I looked down at the tunnel, it was pretty obvious why the mightyena's had been unable to fit. It was

going to be a tight squeeze even for me, and I'm small for my age. Fortunately I could also tell that

although I would have to inch along like a caterpie for a short distance the tunnel did widen up into a

decent sized cavern which went on beyond the reach of the flashlight's beam. I glanced at Gin, "Should I

go first or you?"

"I'll go first, that way if you get stuck I can push you back out." Gin says before he crawls down the

tunnel. A few moments later he calls back to me, "Come on in!"

I squirm my way through the tunnel. I almost got stuck in the middle and was starting to feel

claustrophobic towards the end but felt immensely better once my head popped out into the larger

chamber. At least it felt better until Gin grabbed me by the hair and pulled me the rest of the way out.

"Geez Gin!" I exclaim tenderly massaging my scalp, "Did you have to pull me through by my hair? I was

doing just fine without help anyway!"

Gin grins in the dim light at the edge of my flashlight's beam, "I'd rather get this job done with sooner

rather than later. If we aren't back by lunch time I'm pretty sure Rogue will kick our asses again."

I chuckle, "Good point."

I flash the beam around us and I impressed by how big this cavern is. It is kind of honeycombed, and it

must slant downward since the ceiling gets higher the farther in you go. It also branches off in two

directions. There are two of us, so… "I'll take the left side you take the right." I say starting to make my

way through the chambers to my left, "If you find the poochyena or run into any trouble just shout

really loud and I'll come running."

Gin nods and starts off down the right hand route then stops "What if you can't hear me?"

I shrug, "Shout louder."

-0-

(warning, POV change! We are now in third person!)

Gin wanders the many chambers using all of his senses to try and find the poochyena. He lacks Danny's

flashlight, but he has a keen nose to make up for it, and man does it smell! The cave anyway. Gin shakes

his head, whatever made this cave could sure have used a bath.

After awhile he reaches a massive chamber that he can't even make out the far corners of, but he does

see something strange. In the center of the chamber is a tower of glowing crystals, and at the base is a

small opening. Gin hurries over to the opening and looks inside. He smiles, and shouts over his shoulder

at the top of his lungs "I FOUND HER!"

The opening leads through a narrow passage to a small hollow in the crystals which is filled mostly by a

frightened poochyena. Gin gestures for her to come out but she shakes her head, "If I come out he will

get me."

Gin frowns, "Who will get you?"

The poochyena whimpers and puts her paws over her eyes, "i_He/i _will."

Gin frowns but a low growl comes from above him and he swallows hard before he slowly looks up. "Oh

–"

-0-

(and back to first person with Danny)

The beam of light in front of me bounces wildly as I sprint through the cave. Just moments after I heard

the faint sounds of Gin shouting that he had found the poochyena I had heard and _felt_ an explosion of

some kind from the same direction. Just what that meant, I didn't know but it couldn't be good, since I

had heard Gin shouting all sorts of expletives afterwards and it was his cursing that was actually leading

me towards him.

The tunnel I am in opens up suddenly and I skid to a halt. Not far from a pile of glowing crystals in the

center of the room Gin is dodging the swinging arms of a huge rhyperior! My mind races as I sprint over

to where Gin is. Then it hits me, Gin has an advantage if he can find the room to use it. "Gin use Aura

sphere, the way you did this morning!"

Gin leaps back from the rhyperior, barely dodging a hammer arm attack that craters the ground where

Gin was just a split second before. "How! He won't give me hardly enough space to breathe!"

"I'll get you the time!" I shout, putting on an extra busrt of speed as the rhyperior notices my charge and

starts to turn my way.i _I really wish I had a better plan than this!/i _I think to myself as I drop the flashlight

and jump onto the rhyperior's flank and scramble around to between his shoulders. hopefully he won't

be able to reach me as well here. I firm up my grip with my left hand while reaching for my machete.

"Hey ugly!" I shout as I struggle to draw the machete from its sheath and the rhyperior does its best to

swat me with its cannon-like arms, "I'm right here! Can't get me?"

The machete finally slides free and I grin, "TOO BAD!"

I strike the arm closest to me and sparks fly from the machete. The arm recoils away from me and the

Rhyperior roars. I stick the handle of the machete in my mouth and climb a little higher up so I can reach

the head. The rhyperior's eyes widen, then narrow as it sees me just over its shoulder. I grin and take

the machete from my mouth. "Light's out mother-OHHELL!"

The machete goes flying from my hand with a loud clang as a bloody effing geodude flies out of the

rhyperior's left cannon arm and knocks it away. I slide down quickly, catching myself halfway down the

rhyperior's back as several more rocks fly out of the cannon arm, passing through where I had just been.

I take a quick look around to see that Gin is only half way through his aura sphere production and

compression.

"Sometime today would be nice!" I shout swinging around to the other side as the rhyperior tries to

swat me again with its right arm.

"Don't rush me!" Gin shouts back.

Suddenly the rhyperior starts backing up quickly. I glance over my shoulder to see a wall rapidly

approaching. I yelp and scramble up the rhyperior, prefering to take my chances with the cannons than

the very unforgiving looking wall. I pull my feet up to the shoulder level as the rhyperior's back slams

into the wall so hard my teeth rattle and I nearly fall off. I manage to catch myself by grabbing onto the

beast's horn and I am now hanging on the side of the rhyperior's head. It smiles.

_iOh crap./i_ I see the cannon lift up behind me and I swallow hard. I am going to die.

"NOW!" Gin yells and I drop. At that same moment the rhyperior fires a rock out of the cannon that had

been pointed at me. I hear a loud i_CRACK!/i_ followed by an enraged roar. I scurry away from the rhyperior

as fast as I can and turn to see a small blue sphere strike it right between the eyes. It explodes violently

and the blastwave hits me like a thump to the chest and throws up a cloud of dust. I keep going

backwards until I am standing next to Gin, "Did we kill it?"

Gin shakes his head, "No, I don't think so."

The dust slowly settles and we see the rhyperior wavering on its feet. It takes a couple shaky steps

towards us then falls forward, unconscious. I let out a whoop and spin Gin around by the neck, "Not

dead but close enough!"

I put Gin back down, "Go get that poochyena and I'll grab my flashlight and machete and we'll get the

hell out before grumpy wakes up."

I hurry to where I dropped the flashlight and with the light I search the cave for my machete. I manage

to find half the blade near the crystals and I have just found the half with the handle when Gin shouts, "I

think he's waking up!"

I glance over my shoulder to see the rhyperior is starting to move. "I'm good!" I shout sliding the

handled half into the sheath and start sprinting to where Gin is waiting with the poochyena.

"GOGOGO!"

We sprint down the tunnel as fast as our feet can carry us as a roar echoes around us. I chuckle, "I think

he is a bit pissed."

A section of tunnel wall to my right shatters with a bang. I yelp and duck instinctively, and that saved my

life as another rock passes through where my head had been to explode on the ground ahead of us.

Up ahead I can see our escape tunnel. As more rocks explode on the walls around us Gin brings up a

sobering point. "There won't be enough time for all of us to get in before the rhyperior is close enough

to shoot accurately."

We arrive at the tunnel and the poochyena immediately hops into the tunnel and crawls through. I grab

Gin around the waist, "You first little brother." And shove him into the tunnel. He yelps as I shove him as

far as I can up the exit, and then I am running again. Almost immediately I dive to the right and the

rhyperior thunders past me.

Unlike the part we came from, this part of the cavern is just one massive chamber filled with columns. I

dart from column to column, keeping out of sight of the rhyperior, because I have a plan. A risky plan,

but more sane than climbing all over the rhyperior like a crazed apom.

I take a left and come out next to the rhyperior, "HEY FATTY!"

The ryperior whirls around and fires wildly. However I am already ducking behind a new group of

columns as the ones I was previously behind get demolished. I move around, popping out every now

again and taunting the rhyperior and disappearing behind a new set of columns, kind of like tauros

fighting on crack. pretty soon most of the majority of the columns are destroyed, and I find myself with

one set of columns between me and the rhyperior, and the exit is behind me. I leap out in front of the

columns, "DAMN YOUR MOTHER WAS SUCH A WHORE!"

I duck back around the columns and sprint for the exit. I hear an explosion behind me followed by the

rumble and roar of the beginnings of a cave collapse. I dive into the exit and squirm my way through as

the roof collapses down behind me. A minute or so later I pop my head out of the tunnel. Around me

are the mightyena and one very worried looking lucario who is wringing his paws nervously. One of the

mightyena spots me and starts barking as I manage to free one hand from the tunnel and start

leveraging myself the rest of the way out. The lucario whirls towards me, and so does one of the

poochyena. I quickly realize that the poochyena is Rouge when she starts pulling on my ear. The lucario

grabs me by the shirt as soon as I am halfway out of the hole and he pulls me the rest of the way and

shakes me, "Don't ever pull that sort of tauros crap on me again! You have no idea what sort of horrible

ends Rogue has been vocally planning for me if you hadn't come out since when I evolved I couldn't fit

back in!"

I manage to get my feet under me and grin, patting Gins arm as I say, "Don't worry little brother, I'd

never leave you hanging." I pause thoughtfully, "For long anyway."

Rogue nips at my jean's leg and barks something. Gin chuckles and releases me, "She says that if we

leave her behind like this again she's going to pee on all your stuff."

I laugh as I dust myself off, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Oh, and what was all that ruckus and earthshaking?" Gin asks as we start to walk back towards our own

cave.

I smile, "That was me taunting the rhyperior into bringing down the entire cavern on his head."

I glance over at Rogue after she bumps my shin with her head and gives a muffled bark. I take the

leather pouch from her and look at Gin, "What is this?"

Gin shrugs, "Not sure, but the mightyena found it somewhere and thought it would be useful to us and

consider it proper payment for rescuing the alpha's daughter."

I open up the pouch to find an assortment of crafting and sewing tools. I raise a brow, "Yeah, these are

gonna be useful as soon… as I learn how to use them. Until then they ain't worth a magikarp's tail."

Gin chuckles, "Then you should start learning."

We walk a little ways further then Gin grins broadly. I give him a look, "What?"

"I'm not the little brother anymore." He says with a smirk, and then yelps as I sweep his legs out from

under him. I sprint down the path as he scrambles back to his feet, "Get back here!"

Rogue sighs and chases after both of us. Wondering what she did to deserve a pair of idiot brothers like

us.


	4. Chapter 4: Changes of Winter

A Twisting Ladder to Heaven 4

Changes of Winter

I wake up shivering even though I'm wearing all my clothes, Gin is sprawled over me, and Rogue is

tucked in against my body. The fire must have gone out at some point in the night. I sigh. Something is

going to have to die for me to stay warm.

Normally, when it got cold I would just dig deep in my drawers and pull out a long sleeved shirt or a pair

of winter jeans and that would be enough. If it was really cold I might put on a sweater.

Well, Rogue and I planned well enough that we were able to take public transportation for the first leg

of the trip. leaving our island in the temperate region for a much more seasonal portion of the mainland

and then heading north until we were completely lost and exhausted in these woods. Only then did we

figure we were far enough away to escape the witch's inevitable rage when she saw what our parting

gift to her was. Unfortunately, I had failed to plan for a true northern winter. I hadn't even paced my

sweater, thought it would take up too much space in my pack.

I know to most people, the fact that I would have to kill some pokémon to clothe myself with their fur

would not seem that huge a deal, and when we first ran away, I don't think it would have been that big a

deal. But now, it was going to be rough. I mean after several months out here in the wilderness, the only

pokémon I think I can kill without any guilt is a magikarp. I mean, those things are so stupid they can't

even learn tackle! Something that stupid probably can't feel pain. Sure, once they evolve they get their

vengeance on a world that beat them down, but until then, sheesh.

Just about the entire forest knows me by now. Gin, Rogue, and I are the go to folk for just about any

problem. Baby fell in a ravine and can't get out? Territory disputes? Trainer take your mother, brother, daughter, etc.? Call up that poochyena who has that human with the scars and the weird

looking lucario doing her bidding. No joke. That is how we are being referred to these days. Apparently

Rogue is the boss and we are the grunts. Rogue has no problem with that and manages to keep us both

under her paw with her thunder fang and headbutt.

I stretch with a shudder, and Gin slides off and rubs his eyes. "What gives brother?" he glances at the

entrance, "It's not even light yet."

I star at the entrance for a moment then grin. "Maybe, maybe not."

I crawl to the end of the entrance tunnel and find my way blocked by something white. I grin, scooping

some of it into my hands. "Hey Gin, check this out!"

Gin peeks his head into the tunnel and my snowball explodes with a satisfying 'paff' on the end of his

nose. Gin yelps and pulls his head back from the tunnel while I laugh. I hear Rogue barking then Gin says,

"Rogue says, firewood now, snowballs later."

"Spoil sport!" I call back, but start shoving snow away from the entrance.

Before long I realize that snow and really damn cold go together like magikarp and uselessness. Also, I

realize that although it had been cold in the cave, it was considerably colder outside where there was a

slight breeze that made my nose turn bright pink in only a couple minutes. Hoping to warm myself up by

activity, I hurried to gather wood.

Even with my main focus on gathering large chunks of wood, and smaller tinder, the beauty of the forest

encased in snow and ice does not fail to impress me. It's beautiful, and it looks like nothing I've ever

seen. Just one thing bothers me. Where the hell is everybody?

Seriously, even just yesterday there were pokémon scurrying about, gathering the last of the berries

from the bushes. But today, nobody. Nothing but the sounds of my own shoes crunching in the half foot

of snow on the ground. It's actually starting to creep me out.

Fortunately for him, I hear Gin coming, or else he would have gotten a face full of firewood when he

suddenly appeared next to me. "Rogue is satisfied."

"Really?" I ask in surprise. I just stared gathering wood.

Gin nods, "Using extreme speed to do the job gets it done faster." He gives me a look, "I know you can

at least use quick attack, even if you keep insisting that you aren't a pokémon and that it isn't possible.

So you should have been moving faster than this."

"I still don't know how I can move that fast, brother." I say, "But I sure as hell aren't using quick attack to

do it."

Gin rolls his eyes, laughing a little, "Whatever, little brother."

In one quick motion I drop the wood and twist my body suddenly, lashing out with a heel aimed at the

back of his head. He vanishes, and my heel passes through empty space. I continue to spin, just barely

deflecting Gin's force palm with my right hand and I try to go for a reversal, bringing my right elbow back

into Gin's face. I grin as it connects for a split second before he vanishes again using extreme speed.

I sprint straight ahead, knowing that Gin has backed off a short ways. I can sense his aura retreating,

which at this point is the extent of my aura powers beyond mediocre aura spheres and that is after

months of training with Gin. I can sense when he is going to attack, his general position relative to my

own, and also if he is getting riled. In other words, I'm about on par with a newborn riolu. Not very

impressive in my opinion, but Gin says it is.

I keep sprinting, weaving around trees, always sensing Gin's aura just ahead of me. Then suddenly it

vanishes. I can feel my eyes go wide, but then I shut them, focusing purely on aura. At first nothing

happens then, Then the world seems to explode into lights.

My jaw drops, I can see everything! The trees all around me, the snow and the ground beneath it, and

most importantly, the ghostly flame in the shape of a lucario diving down on me from above.

I drop back a step and the strike out as hard as I can. My fist collides with the side of the specter's face

and the diving figure spins in midair to crash down on its tail with a heavy thud. I open my eyes to grin

down at Gin who is staring up at me with a bewildered look on his face as he rubs his jaw. I grin even

wider when he asks, "How?"

"I think I just used wave guidance or something." I say then explain what just happened on my end.

Gin grins, "Absolutely incredible. My dad told me that sort of thing was limited to special lucario

bloodlines, but apparently my dad was wrong."

Suddenly Gin's jaw drops and his eyes go wide, focused on something behind me. "Holy crap, it's Mew!"

I whirl around, "Seriously?"

Suddenly my feet are swept out from under me and I am briefly airborne and horizontal. My head cracks

against the ground and I see stars. I groan as Gin cracks up. "Damn little brother! I can't believe you

actually fell for that!"

I roll over and start to pop back to my feet and tackle Gin when I see it. I freeze staring at the thing

behind Gin, i_No way. I just hit my head, it's a hallucination./i_

I rub my eyes, the ice cold snow stuck to my palms melts and the slight ringing in my head clears

instantly. Opening my eyes again the apparition is still floating there behind Gin. Grinning at me. "G-

gin." I stammer, pointing to the floating creature behind him. "M-mew!"

Gin's laughter slows and he wipes a tear from his eye, "Danny, little brother, please. I just used that one

on you. Do you really think I'm gonna turn around and fall for it like that?"

I watch as Mew holds her paws to her mouth to stifle a giggle. I shake my head and grab Gin by the

muzzle and turn his head around to look at her. I release his muzzle and his jaw drops, this time Mew

can't hold her laughter in and she busts out with this high pitched, tinkling laugh, kind of like wind

chimes actually. Then she throws her arms wide, "Surprise!"

Gin turns to look at me, "What's next? Tea with Darkrai?"

Mew giggles again, "Not gonna happen. He hates tea."

Gin and I look at each other and I can tell he is trying to keep a straight face, I am too, and we are both

failing badly. Finally we both break down and laugh. I can feel tears growing in the corners of my eyes

I'm laughing so hard. I fall onto my back still laughing, until a trickle of ice water soaks down to my skin

through my clothing. I bolt upright with a yelp. Gin looks at me, and laughs harder. "Oh… Arceus, it

hurts!" Gin manages to gasp through his laughter, tears rolling down his face.

I scoop up some snow into a snowball and peg him between the legs with the frosty sphere. This time

Gin yelps in surprise and immediately curls up to cover himself. "Not cool! That stuff is cold!"

I smirk, "Yet your laying in it doesn't seem to bother you."

"But my nuts aren't!" Gin retorts.

"You guys are weird." Mew comments with a giggle, then adds, "Just what is so funny about Darkrai not

liking tea?"

I grin, "Nothing, it's just 'tea with Darkrai' has been something of an inside joke with us almost since we

met."

Gin nods, "We don't like tea either."

Mew tilts her head, "What's wrong with tea? I love tea, especially when you add berries! It makes it so

sweet and yummy!"

I shrug, "Just not our thing, but much more significant than tea, is why the hell did you show yourself to

us? Aren't you supposed to be super secretive and impossible to find?"

Gin nods, "Yeah, you're not exactly known for being a people person."

Mew sniffs, "Well I am, but most people just want to challenge me. Apparently being legendary means

you're also a big fighter. And don't even get me started with humans! Some want to catch me, some

want to challenge me, some want do experiments on me, it's awful."

I nod, she's right. At least about the human part. "And that brings us back to the big question, why us?"

Mew darts in close to me, wrapping her tail around my shoulder tenderly, before whispering seductively

in my ear, "Because you're cute."

"WHAT?" I squawk, stumbling backwards away from her, blushing furiously.

Gin's jaw is somewhere on the floor as Mew gives me an offended look. "What? Think you're too good

for the likes of me?"

She smirks and my blush fades as an idea worms its way into my mind, and I smirk right back, "No, it's

not that. I'm just not all that into older women."

Now Gin is staring at me in shock. Mew's eyes flash and I am suddenly buried under a foot of snow that

was just dumped out of the tree behind me. I resurface to hear mew laughing, rocking backwards as she

floats over me. Gin is still sitting there with his jaw on the ground. "What the hell?" he finally manages

to say.

Mew giggles, "You really are the impulsive pokémon that everyone says you are."

Both Gin and I frown at that, "But Danny is a human."

Mew giggles rotating until she is upside down and on her back as she looks at us, "Sure doesn't act like

one." she starts counting off on her little fingers, "First off, he doesn't train pokémon. Pokémon train

him. Second, humans fight using pokémon, often in order to catch more pokémon. Danny however,

fights with and for pokémon, and has on several occasions in his first year in the forest fought _humans_

to _free_ pokémon. Third, you can talk to pokémon. I think that warrants being called a pokémon."

"You know, as odd as it may be to think so," I chuckle, "I think being called a pokémon may actually be

one of the biggest compliments I've received. But I can't talk to pokémon. Just Gin."

"Then how are you understanding me?" Mew says leaning in close with a grin. She actually has sharp

teeth, a lot of them. It's a little unnerving actually to be staring into a mouth of needle sharp teeth.

"Uh, you're not using telepathy?" I ask with a nervous chuckle.

"Nope." Mew says shaking her head, "Just regular talking."

Gin grins, "Looks like you are really hitting it out of the park today. First you master wave guidance

before I do, then you expand your internal translator to all pokémon. Way to go little brother!"

I grin, discretely packing a snowball. Suddenly something cold smacksme in the side of the head. I stare

at Gin who is grinning, another snowball already in his hand. "Drop the snowball little brother."

I grin, "Who says I was going to throw it at you?"

I hurl the snow ball and Mew squeaks in surprise as it explodes against her rear, seeing as she had been

somersaulting in the air at that exact moment. Gin snickers and I grin as Mew dusts ice crystals from her

fur, "I'll get you for that!"

I laugh, "With what? You already brought the entire tree of snow down on me."

Mew grins evilly and a dozen or so snowballs rise out of the snow around us. "SNOW WAR!"

Gina and I yelp and sprint for cover as snowballs fly through the air all around us, pelting our backs.

"Why are you throwing them at me too?" Gin yelps as we dive behind separate trees.

Mew laughs, "It's you two versus me! Now start throwing!"

I grin, scooping up some snow, "You heard the old lady!"

I dive around the tree and throw the snowball, missing horribly, but avoiding the snow drift that fell

from the tree I was hiding behind. My snowball careens into the tree branches over Mew. "Ha! You

missed!"

PLOMPF!

Gin cracks up as a massive snowdrift falls out of the tree branches over Mew's head, throwing her to the

ground. I grin and sprint even faster away from her as she explodes out of the pile of snow, glowing with

psychic energy. The snowball storm from before resumes, only the snowballs are twice as big. I trip over

a root and go down, quickly being buried under the barrage.

bBOOM!/b

I leap to my feet, throwing snow everywhere. That sounded like a rhyperior! I look around, but I don't

see a rhyperior anywhere. Then I notice something is wrong, I don't see Mew either.

I run back the way I came, then slide to a stop. Mew is lying there on the ground, bleeding from a large

hole in her left leg. I go down on one knee next to her, "Mew! What happened?"

Ka-Chink!

I look up to see a man in winter gear holding a long grey object with smoke rising from the tip. At his

waist is a trio of pokéballs. He laughs, "Kid, you're not gonna get an answer from her. She's a pokémon

after all. She can't talk."

I stand up again, drawing the broken machete from its sheath at my hip. "Go away."

He laughs, slinging the long weapon over his shoulder and taking a pokéball in each hand. "I have three

pokémon, you have a broken knife. I'm being gracious, I'm giving you the chance to run away."

"It's a machete." I say shifting into a ready stance as the man tosses the pokeballs into the air,

wondering where the hell Gin is.

Red light shoots out of the pokéballs and forms into a houndoom and a rhyhorn. I grin slowly, weak

against fighting, both of them. The man's smile vanishes as he watches me, "What the fuck? Aren't you

scared?"

The houndoom eyes me, "He's insane. But harmless."

I glare at the houndoom, "Wrong."

I dart forward. Flipping into a two footed stomp. The houndoom leaps backwards a surprised look on its

face. My foot narrowly misses it's head by a mere inch and snow explodes out from my foot as it slams

into the ground. Surprisingly it doesn't hurt at all as my feet hammer the ground and I throw myself into

another leap, this time at the rhyhorn. The Rhyhorn takes a surprised step back, and I shoot past him,

ignoring how high I have suddenly jumped I quickly charge and loose a small aura sphere at the Rhyhorn.

It's eyes go wide as the sphere explodes across its broad back.

I land in a crouch behind the Rhyhorn, between it and its trainer. I sprint towards the trainer in the

white snow gear, my body low to the ground. I swing the machete, as the man falls backwards. I fell the

broken blade bite into something solid before sliding across the man's chest.

I slide through the snow, throwing the white powder out every which way. I watch the man as he falls

over, and grin.

My grin turns to a frown as the man turns over and I see that my blade didn't even scratch him. He is

wearing some sort of armor underneath his coat. But what really grabs my attention is the large red

helix on the back of his coat. It is very strange. In fact, I'm pretty sure I have seen it before.

The man looks up at me, "What the hell are you?" he shakes his head, "Never mind, Houndoom, flamethrower."

"Dead." the houndoom says, throwing its jaws wide. I immediately dive to the left away from the stream

of flame that rolls towards me, then starts following me as I roll and dive again.

Suddenly a yellow blur appears behind the houndoom and there is a loud crack as Gin uses force palm

on the houndoom's spine. The houndoom's back legs crumple and it yelps in pain as it is driven into the

ground. I grin, "What took you so long brother?"

The man looks from me to Gin and back again. "What the fuck? Brother?"

I laugh, "Damn straight! I'm not a goddamn human! I'm a bloody pokémon!"

The man slings his weapon around and starts fumbling in a hip pouch. Whatever that weapon is, it is

obviously powerful if it blew a hole in Mew's leg and brought her down with one hit. There is no way I'm

going to wait and find out just how it works. I lunge forward, covering far more ground than I thought

possible in less than a second, but even then I'm too slow.

The man skids across the ground, doubled over from Gin pounding his knee into the man's side. I leap to

avoid running into Gin and find myself sailing through the air. Right towards the rhyhorn which is pulling

back his fist, prepping a focus punch.

I let out a yell, pulling my own fist back, praying like hell that it works. I swing my fist down, seeing a

bright glow coming from it. It collides with the rhyhorn's and there is an earth shattering boom and I am

thrown back into the air unharmed. I grin, i_Hell yeah, Danny just used Focus Punch./i_

Tucking my knees into my chest I rotate backwards, then land in a crouch at the base of a tree. I pop up

and punch the air victoriously as the Rhyhorn just stares at me in shock. I turn to sneer at the paralyzed

houndoom, "Harmless huh?"

A wall of flame washes over me and I can hear someone shrieking as I dive into the melting snow and

begin to writhe and roll spastically, trying to put out the flames that are still covering my body. After a

moment I realize the one shrieking is me.

I shut my mouth, and bury my face in a fresh pile of snow. I'll be lucky if all I have is first degree burns.

After a few moments I lift my face and look over to where the houndoom is. I can clearly see a glowing

form over the houndoom, bloody flesh hanging from its mouth. The glow fades and I find myself staring

at a mightyena. She spits out the ragged chunk of flesh, "Bitch. Nobody hurts Danny and lives."

I climb to my feet and turn back to the man and the rhyhorn. We probably make a intimidating sight. Gin

has a massive aura sphere charged, Rogue has blood dripping from her maw as therest of her begins to

crackle with electricity, and me? Well, I'm not quite as intimidating but I am pissed, and my clothes are

still smoldering, what is left of them anyway. If it weren't for the fact I had been wearing every article of

clothing I own, I'd be a crispy mess right now.

The man has his weapon up and obviously ready to do some serious damage. I look the man in the eye,

"I don't know what that thing you have is, but from the way you had to do a whole bunch of stuff after

you hurt Mew just to get it ready again, I do know this, you only have one shot." I start walking towards

him, "There are three of us, and two of us have a type advantage over that rhyhorn."

I bend over and pick up my machete. I had lost my grip on it when I got torched. I press the cold blade to

my face, cherishing feeling of the cool steel on my face. "So you have to ask yourself, do you really think

that you can get off three shots in less time than it would take for the other two to kill you?"

I can see the weapon shaking in the man's hands, and he swallows hard. "I can guarantee that you will

die too."

"I have gouged out the eyes of a feraligatr with my bare hands! I have faced down a pack of mightyena

with nothing but a machete after getting mauled by that same feraligatr! I have taken down a rhyperior

in its own home with nothing but half a machete and my wits!" I grin widely throwing out my arms. "I

don't fear death!"

I grin at the man, but I can sense both his fear, and Gin's concern. The man curses, and drops the gun to

his side, "Come on Rhyhorn, let's get out of here." The man doesn't even wait for the rhyhorn, he just

turns tail and runs.

I wait until the man is out of sight, then let out the breath I was holding and sink to my knees, clutching

at my chest, trying to keep my heart from exploding out of my chest. "Thank Arceus that he didn't call

my bluff." I gasp, with a weak smile looking back at Gin who smiles.

"I was worried you had completely lost your mind for a minute there." He says as his aura sphere

dissolves.

I nod as I shakily climb back to my feet, "No, I haven't lost my mind, just all my clothes." I pause, "Where

is Mew?"

Gin points back towards our cave, "I moved her closer to our home and let Rogue know what was going

on. I went as fast as I could."

"Good thing." I say starting to shiver as I start jogging back towards the cave. "Any later and I would

have been royally screwed."

"As it is you just lost everything that is keeping you from freezing to death out here." Rogue comments,

"Even your head fur is gone."

I groan, it had better grow back or I am gonna be so pissed. I am way too young to be bald.

-0-

Back at the cave, I apply potions to Mew's wound while Gin tries to get a fire going. When I finish, my I

can't feel my fingers, and I'm shivering so hard that I drop the potion bottle when it try to put it back in

my pack. I pull my knees to my chest as I lean back against Rogue, trying to bury myself in her fur for

warmth. Gin throws the fire starting sticks aside with a muttered profanity and sits down next to me.

"I'm sorry little brother. It's no good. They are too wet from the snow."

The pile of logs suddenly bursts into flames and both Gin and I stare wide eyed at the sudden blaze.

Then Mew groans, "What the hell hit me!"

We turn to see Mew sitting up, her leg is mostly healed from the potions and her fur is beginning to

grow back over the wound. Gin answers for me since my teeth are still chattering too hard for me to

speak coherently. "We don't know. Some man had a weapon unlike anything we've ever seen before.

Whatever it was, it knocked you out in one hit; and from a distance too. We took care of him and chased

him off."

Mew stares at us, "You chased off a man who had a weapon that nearly killed me in one hit?"

"It couldn't be used quickly in succession." Gin says quietly, "And Danny pulled a stunt that scared the

crap out of him."

Mew looks at me and frowns, "What happened to your hair and clothes?"

"H-h-hound-d-oom." I stutter, finally starting to warm up thanks to the fire, "F-f-f-f-flameth-thrower."

Mew glows and changes form, and we find ourselves sharing a cave with a ninetails. She limps over and

wraps me in her tails, and I can't help but relax in the warm, soft embrace.

"Is there any way I can repay you for saving me and fixing me up?" Mew the ninetails asks me.

"Clothes would be nice." I say, then yawn, "Both some for winter and some for summer."

Mew smiles, "I can do that, but it will take a day or two." She pauses as my stomach growls, "You

haven't eaten today have you?"

I shake my head, "I don't think any of us have and from the looks of the snow out there, more berries is

out of the question."

"Go back to the original plan." Rogue says with a smirk, "Kill something and eat it."

I frown, "I guess, but now that I've been working for pokémon, and now that I can talk to them too, it

seems just kinda wrong to eat them."

Rogue's ears perk up and her tail starts wagging, "So you can understand me now?"

I nod reaching over to scratch her behind the ears, "Yep, my translator just got upgraded or something."

"Just kill only what you have to." Mew says, "That's what everyone else does. Well, except for the

vegetarians and Jirachi, but they tend to hibernate and Jirachi has that creepy belly eye that he absorbs

energy with."

I raise a brow, "Are you included in this whole eating others deal?"

Mew grins toothily, "These teeth aren't for show you know."

I chuckle, getting ready to make an old lady joke, but then consider the fact that I'm all wrapped up in

her tails. Probably best to just hold my tongue.

One of mews tails swats me on the head. I give her a look, "What was that for?"

_iI'm psychic silly. I can read your thoughts./i_ I hear in my head and I swallow hard.

Gin gives me an odd look, "What's got you all nervous now?"

Mew giggles, "He just found out I can read his mind." She rolls over onto her side, "But he shouldn't

worry too much. I actually thought it was kinda funny." Then adds in my head, i_And besides, you/i _are_ icute./i_

I smile, laying my head back against Rogue's side to try and hide my blushing face somewhat. "So what's

for lunch?"

Rogue licks her lips, "I think some houndoom would do quite nicely."

We all turn to look at Gin. He looks right back at us. "What?"

"Go get that dead houndoom and bring it back here." Rogue says with a smirk.

"Why me?" Gin asks testily, "Why don't you go get it, Rogue?"

Rogue giggles and tosses her head at me, "I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment."

Gin looks at Mew who rolls her eyes and grins, "I'm Danny's clothing at the moment in case you haven't

noticed."

Gin looks at me and slaps his palm against his forehead, "I don't believe this! I have to go out into the

cold and haul a frozen carcass over a mile while you get to sit here all nice and cozy with the ladies.

Sheesh!"

I laugh along with the girls. I don't know whether Mew is going to be living with us, just visiting today, or

something in between, but either way, the future looks pretty bright. Even if I do have to be naked for

the next couple days.


	5. Chapter 5: Behind Masks of Blind Sight

A Twisting Ladder to Heaven 5

Behind Masks with Good Intentions

I wake up to find a pachirisu sleeping on my head with its tail hanging down over my face. That and I am

up in a tree. I do not remember climbing this tree. That means Gin has pulled yet another prank on me.

This was probably for my filling his canteen full of cheri berry juice last night, or it might just be our

ongoing prank wars have hit a new high. Literally.

Whether the pachirisu is part of the prank or not, it is a nice touch, since I can't get down unless the

pachirisu wakes up and gets off me on its own. Gin and I tried waking one up once when we had been

tasked with finding a specific pachirisu. They are very jumpy when they first wake up. It was not pretty.

My left arm wouldn't stop twitching for three days and Gin's tail kept spazzing out and smacking him

upside the head with random iron tails for the rest of the day. Rogue had been far enough away to avoid

being caught in the flurry of thunderbolts so she got to laugh at us the entire time.

Anyway, I have no idea what this guy is going to do if I wake him up, so my best course of action would

be to – "Hey Danny! You up yet?" Aw crap.

Gin laughs, "Get it? You're up in a, aw, never mind."

When he gets no reply he starts shouting louder, "Hey wake up lazy! IT's time to gather berries and

junk!" he pauses and the pachirisu tail twitches, tickling my nose. i_Oh for Arceus sake! Not that!/i_

Gin starts jabbing the tree trunk and I can feel the vibrations traveling up to jar me slightly. The tail

twitches a couple more times and I can feel a tingle in my sinuses. I screw up my face, fighting back the

urge to sneeze. I try pinching my nose, careful to not pinch any tail hairs in the process. Suddenlythe

entire tree seems to come alive and starts shaking wildly, it feels like I'm sitting on a jackhammer for

Cresselia's sake! At this point I consider not waking the pachirisu a lost cause, and I throw myself

forward off the branch, sneezing as I tumble out of the upper boughs and try not to break my neck as I

bounce from branch to branch in a barely controlled tumble. Above me I hear the pachirisu shriek in

terror as it wakes up in free fall. It lands safely, I think as it stops screaming.

I hit the ground and fall into a crouch, and then transfer my momentum into a roll. I come to a stop on

my back, gasping for breath and more than a little sore from the rough descent. Gin looks at me with a

smirk, "Geez, I would have expected you to have woken up by now."

I glare up at him, "Gin, little brother, there was a pachirisu sleeping on my _**head**_."

Gin laughs at me and I growl, rolling over and lunging at him in one smooth motion. I manage to get the

lucario in a headlock and start giving him a noogie, grinding my knuckles against the top of his head.

"You could have gotten me killed!"

Gin yelps and starts swatting at me with his paws, "Sorry Sorry Sorry!"

I let him go and we both dust ourselves off. I look back up into the tree, noticing an angry looking

pachirisu near the top shaking its paw at me. I chuckle quietly, "How the hell did you get me up there

anyway? I know I'm a pretty heavy sleeper but that is just ridiculous."

Gin grins at me, "Mew teleported you up there when she came by to drop off your new clothes."

I whirl on Gin, "Mew came by and you didn't wake me up?"

Not waking the others up when a guest arrives is a grave offense in our little group, and it was Mew for

Pete's sake! I loved listening to her gossip about the other legendaries, especially Darkrai. From the way

Mew talked about him, I think we would get along well. But apparently he doesn't get out much,

especially after his own run in with the people with the uniforms that had the DNA Helix on it a little

over a decade and half ago. I still can't place where I've seen that logo before though.

Gin raises his hands in a placating manner, "She told me not to. She did however tell me to give

you this when you woke up."

Gin tosses me a necklace of teeth with a quick claw in the center. "She put that together real quick while

you were sleeping."

I hold up the necklace, examining it closely, "This is my quick claw, and some feraligator teeth. Cool."

I put the necklace on and stretch. I yawn at the peak of my stretch, then slap Gin upside the head,

"You're it!" and take off using extreme speed. I shut my eyes and go into wave sight, side stepping Gin

as he lunges from above, then leaping to a tree limb and launching myself into the air. I open my eyes,

and marvel briefly at how far I can see from way up hear above the trees. Hopefully I can landon a

relatively high branch, because at this height gravity is enough to make the landing painful. Actually it is

Gin that reaches me first, with a force palm to the chest. "You're it!" I rocket backwards, the wind

knocked out of me. I curl up briefly, flipping over once before my feet connect with a solid tree trunk. I

reach out and grab hold of a pair of branches, then smile. This is the tree over our cave and I have new

clothes waiting for me!

I scramble down as fast as I can without falling and crawl inside our cave. It is getting a lot snugger now

that we have packed it with a full grown mightyena, a lucario, and me along with all our stuff. I've grown

a lot since coming out here. I was shorter than Gin as a lucario when I first arrived, but now I tower over

him by about a foot and I'm still growing. My hair did grow back after a while, thank Arceus, and it is

pulled back in a tight braid that reaches down to the middle of my back. I still have those huge scars on

my chest, they don't seem eager to fade at all. It's spring now, which means Mew is delivering my

summer clothes.

It's pretty amazing really what she can do with those little paws of hers and a bit of material. I pick up

the light brown tunic, one of three, which Mew has left for me. Light weight and sleeveless, it is perfect

for summer, and matches the brown trousers quite well. The knees of the trousers have a thicker patch

of leather over them, which is always nice.

"Sleep well?" Rogue asks from next to the storage area. One side of the cave is completely taken by a

long sack full of stuff. Potions, elixirs, antidotes, rations, clothing, pokémon items, you name it, we got it.

Except for pokéballs, we don't keep any of those around here.

I give her a look, but then smile, "Actually, yes, I did. At least until I woke up with a pachirisu on my

head."

Rogue laughs then walks over to where I am looking at something very different from the normal

pokémon skin clothing. She tilts her head to the side, "Is that… armor?"

I hold up the strange garments made from a thicker, tougher leathery material. These garments are

fairly solid except at the joints which are made of a tough but flexible plant based fabric. They are a pair

of trousers and a torso piece with one arm with armor like plates sewn into them, probably bone

judging from the weight. Too light to be metal. Also, the feraligatr skull is attached to the outside of the

left arm of the torso piece, but there is no right sleeve. "I think so."

Gin pope his head in and sees what we are looking at, "Pretty cool no?"

I shrug, "It looks bulky." I slip out of my pants and into the armored trousers, and then struggle into the

other part. It's snug, but it moves easy, very naturally. But the real test of armor is in combat and I look

at Gin, he nods and darts back outside. I follow him and he takes off through the woods.

I chase after him, but he manages to stay just ahead of me for a little over a mile until we reach the

river. There Gin turns and leaps, launching an aura sphere back at me. I dive to the side and nimbly

dodge the glowing blue sphere. I spring out of the dive and kick off a tree, meeting Gin over the river

with a force palm. Gin rolls with the blow and spins away from me, landing gracefully on the other side. I

land a little heavier in a crouch.

Gin sprints forward and throws a punch which I block with the skull. The blow is both softened and

deflected by the dense bone and the thick material underneath. I throw my arm out and Gin sails

backwards, while I dash forwards attacking with a flurry of strikes. Gin manages to deflect or block most

of the blows, but a few make it through and my greater reach is keeping him from countering

effectively. I pull back for a moment to try and charge a focus punch but gin is not about to let that go.

He lunges and headbutts me in the gut. I fly backwards a short ways to land on my rear while Gin tries to

keep his balance.

"Oh my head." He groans clutching his head as he wobbles then falls on his own rear. I chuckle as I stand

up.

"Hardly felt that." I say with a grin, walking over to help Gin back to his feet, "Though I don't think the

same could be said for you."

"No kidding." Gin says shaking his head fiercely and nearly losing his balance. "Damnit, what is that

made off?"

I reach out a hand to steady him, "Take it easy. Your skull may be steel but your brain isn't. as for what

this stuff is, I don't know, and I'm not sure I want to know."

"Hey! I hear somebody over here!" a girls voice exclaims loudly somewhere behind me in the

underbrush.

"Hey wait!" a male voice calls out.

Gin and I both leap into the tree tops, hiding ourselves in the thick foliage. Before long, a young girl with

a pokéball runs out of the forest to stand on the river bank looking around for me. She straightens her

green shirt when she doesn't see anyone and sighs. I hear a crashing in the undergrowth and an older

boy, probably around my own age, steps out. "Geez Darcia, don't run off like that! These woods are

dangerous."

Darcia gives the older boy a stubborn look, "I can take care of myself. Besides I've got Fergy with me."

she looks around again, "I know I heard somebody over here. It sounded like a boy. I wanted to battle

him."

"All the more reason not to run off the path!" the boy exclaims, "Haven't you heard about these woods

at all?"

"We just moved here, G." the girl says rolling her eyes. "What is so special about these woods that has

got you all jumpy?"

G grabs her and starts dragging her back towards the beaten path, "There is a crazy out here with a

shiny lucario. They say he wears pokémon skin clothing and talks to pokémon."

"Really?" the girl asks excitedly, "That is so cool!"

G looks at her incredulously, "Do you iwant/i to have Fergy stolen from you?"

Daria's eyes widen, "What?"

I slowly creep out of the tree and start following the pair just out of sight. Gin sneaks along behind me,

hissing, "What the hell are you doing?"

I grin back at him, whispering back, "I wanna know what they say about us!"

Gin sighs quietly and follows me closely. G had been talking during all this and apparently just finished

telling a story. Daria was clearly impressed. "That is so cool!"

G seems to disagree, "He stole the girl's ralts and all her potions, and then got away with it! What is cool

about that?"

The girl shakes her head, "Not that. He can talk to pokémon and he has pokémon abilities too!" she jabs

the older boy in the arm, "Besides, he returned the ralts to its family, which is not the same as stealing

the ralts for himself."

"Well," the boy rubs his arm with a sigh, "I guess, but the police think he might be involved in the mask

murders."

Gin and I look at each other, this didn't sound good. We had been careful not to seriously hurt anybody,

working on the assumption that as long as we didn't hurt anyone and always just released the pokémon

we were tasked with rescuing the police would focus on bigger problems. "How could he be the Mask if

he lives in these woods though?"

G shrugs, "I'm not really sure, but there are a lot of similarities." He starts counting on his fingers, "In

both cases, it is an individual with a shiny lucario. Both are reported to have a blade weapon of some

kind. Also, they both have supernatural abilities. Between the odds of both having shiny lucario and the

supernatural abilities, the odds are pretty high that if they aren't the same person they are related

somehow."

I start to straighten up and declare my innocence, not the brightest decision, but I am not a murderer!

Then Gin grabs my hand. I look back at Gin and notice he is shaking, his eyes wide with terror. "Can you

feel that?"

I frown, "Feel what?"

"Something bad is coming. Something is hunting. We need to get out of here now!" he finishes loudly,

hopping to his feet and starting to run. The trainers on the path whirl around to see Gin running away.

"Look a shiny lucario!" Daria exclaims, pulling a pokéball from her belt.

I stand up and wave at the trainers. I can feel it now too. An aura, a twisted aura, is approaching quickly

with malevolent intent. "Something's coming!" I shout, "You need to run!"

The two trainers stare at me in shock. Then i_they/i_ appear.

A black clad man appears behind the girl and a long blade bursts through her chest. Simultaneously, a

shiny lucario appears next to the older trainer spinning to backhand one of its paw spikes into his chest

and then throws him to the ground. Both the man and the lucario are wearing plain white masks.

I can only stare as the man kicks the girl off the end of his weapon. He laughs, rolling her body over as

she clutches at her stomach, still alive, her mouth moving wordlessly as she stares up at the man. The

man lifts his left hand up and then plunges his fingers into the girl's eyes, gouging deep and scooping

them out. The girl suddenly finds her voice and begins screaming. During this time the lucario had

hopped on the less injured boy's chest and stabbed her spikes into his eyes, demolishing them, and then

stabbing her left paw spike into the boy's carotid artery. The boy is dead in seconds, the spikes having

pierced his heart and brain and also spurting blood out of his carotid. The man lifts his swordlike

weapon and stabs in up through the belly button so that the tip comes out the side of her throat. Her

screams are instantly cut short.

Then both the man and the lucario turn to me. Their masks have no eye holes. I take a shaking step

backwards as the man laughs, squeezing the eyes in his hand until they burst. I had always thought that

the expression, 'to make one's blood run cold' was just a figure of speech, but I feel like ice has been

injected into my veins when I look at this man laughing as blood and whatever the viscous crap that fills

our eyeballs is running through his fingers.

"Enjoy the show boy?" the man asks shaking his hand so that the remains of the eyeballs and their juices

are flung to the ground.

"Why?" I hear myself ask, unaware that I could even think through the fear clogging my mind, maybe I

can't think, because I keep talking, "Why did you do that?"

"Justice, kid. It was for justice." The man says, his voice sounding hollow and infinitely more frightening

behind his mask, "Those who refuse to see don't deserve to have eyes."

"See what?" I exclaim, taking another trembling step back.

"I know that you see. The stories they tell of you are proof enough." The man says, and I can hear his

smile, I can picture it, a leering face with a broad toothy grin. The smile of a predator. "Pokémon are our

equals, if not superior in almost every way. We are fools to treat them as anything less."

I nod, pokémon are often superior to humans biologically and sometimes mentally, "But why did they

have to die! Why did you have to mutilate them?" I yell, rage suddenly flaring up within me. Who does

this guy think he is? Arceus?

"It is a metaphor." The man says calmly gesturing with his free hand as he pulls his blade free from the

girl. Her body slides off the blade with a quiet grinding of bone on steel followed by a wet thud as her

body falls back into a muddy pool of its blood. The man continues talking as he wipes his blade clean on

the boy's sweater, his tone is prideful and condescending, "It was their stubborn metaphysical blindness

that led them to deserve death in the first place, so in death I have taken their eyes. What is so hard to

understand? What is man that he should have dominion over Arceus' greater creations? It is a

perversion of the natural and must not go unpunished."

I shake my head as my disgust begins to grow stronger than my fear, "I know that for many pokémon,

the trainer becomes one of their closest companions after being caught. Killing the trainer means taking

away a part of the pokémon's new family."

"Then you can't see either." The man says, and that overwhelming sense of malevolence returns. I shut

my eyes, going into wave sight as I start backpedalling quickly. The man lunges forward using extreme

speed and swings the blade down on me. I throw up my left arm reflexively and the blade crunches

through the bone. I stare in shock as the skull shatters, practically exploding. Time seems to slow down

as my gaze moves from the skull, bits of it seeming to float in the air, to the plain white mask over the

man's face.

I dive to the side, time snapping back into normal speed. I don't escape completely untouched though,

the impact having stunned my arm and cut through the thick leather to put a thin gash in my forearm. I

roll to my feet and keep sprinting to the side away from the man as he turns and follows, swing his blade

wildly whenever he gets within reach. My focus is so firmly placed on the man and his sword that I

completely forget about the lucario. That is until she slams her paw spike into my gut.

The armor mew made blocks the point of the spike, but not the force of the blow. I tumble, rolling to a

stop with my back against a tree trunk. I see stars as my head knocks against the solid wood, briefly

falling out of wave sight. But even without wave sight I can see the man pulling back the blade for a kill

swing.

I drop to the ground and the blade buries itself deep in the tree trunk at about the height my neck had

been at. I scramble away from the man as he grunts and tries to yank the blade out of the tree, which is

being held tightly by the weight of the tree itself. I grunt as the lucario lands another blow, this time into

my kidney. I cry out in pain and spin, whipping out my broken machete to parry another spike thrust. I

step back and the lucario whirls like a top, knocking my machete to the side, not out of my hand but

enough to open my guard for a split second, before firing an aura sphere into my chest.

Already off balance I am thrown off my feet entirely. Sliding backwards in the dirt of the path I cross my

arms over my chest, surrounding myself in a green bubble. Another blue aura sphere explodes against

the bubble before it vanishes. Protect? When did I learn protect? I extend my hand and fire an aura

sphere at the lucario. She nimbly flips over it, but her being airborne and facing away from me gives me

a chance to jump back to my feet and ready a focus punch.

I attack just as she lands, my fist connects with her chest, right beneath her chest spike. She shoots

backwards with a yelp of pain. I hear an explosion and I turn to see the tree behind the man toppling

over, broken in half by the man's attack. The sword is free of the tree trunk now and the man lunges

after me again with renewed rage. "How dare you hurt my Eroca!"

"I wouldn't have hurt her if she weren't trying to kill me!" I exclaim "Self-preservation is kinda

instinctive!" sidestepping and deflecting the man's reckless downward swing. The force of the blow

nearly knocks the machete out of my hand. I am hopelessly out classed when it comes to power here! I

need time to come up with a plan!

I kick out and catch the man I the gut, slowing him enough for me to turn tail and run like hell down the

path. i_Come on! Think! You only have a few moments before either the man or the lucario catches up _

_then your times up!/i_

I need to isolate one of them, because I definitely am not strong enough to take them both on at the

same time. On strength alone the man has me beat, and the lucario is definitely faster than me. She's

only a couple seconds from catching up even after that focus punch to the chest! I need more time! I

leap to the side and grab a thick branch, flipping up onto the branch and kicking off straight back the

way I came, passing over the lucario. She hits the brakes and starts sliding, trying to switch directions,

then a barrage of aura spheres drops out of the sky and explode all around her. None of them hit her

directly, but the lucario dropping down just behind them does. She is thrown to the ground by the force

of Gin's special move, 'the gin hammer', and gasps, the wind being knocked out of her.

I now have the time I need, and I can now isolate the man. Speaking of which, here he comes. He pulls

back and lunges at full speed, blade raised high overhead, trying to cut me in two. It isn't hard to slip

past the man's reckless swinging. It is obvious he is not used to fighting with someone who has similar

abilities. Nida the marowak would say his guard is wide open. The problem is that his longer arms and

blade give him a reach that makes getting inside even ihis/i guard suicidal at best. Like a ten year

old attacking a feraligatr. i_That's it!_ /i

The man turns and slides along the path, legs already pumping trying to throwing himself after me as I

turn and stop completely with my arms going out parallel to the ground. Head falling against my chest, I

quietly say, "You win."

The man laughs, his shoes finally getting traction and rocketing him forward again. Blade outstretched

to impale me through the stomach. Time seems to slow again as a fresh wave of adrenaline bursts

through my veins. I have to time this just right.

The tip of the man's blade is only a foot and a half away when I bring my own blade down. Steel scrapes

against steel and I can feel the blade biting into my side, piercing clean through the armor as if it weren't

even there. I quickly bring my blade around and step into the man's lunge. The jagged end of my broken

machete sinks into the man's chest. Then we collide and everything flashes into real time again.

We tumble over and over in the dirt, limbs tangled as someone screams. I separate from the man and

slide in the dirt clutching at my side. When I pull my hands away they are red with my blood. I glance

over at the man, he isn't moving, and my machete is buried to the hilt in his chest. He is definitely dead.

The man's blade is several yards from his body. And still someone is screaming, but now there are words

to the scream.

"NO! JAMES! NOOOO!"

I look back up the path to where gin is standing over the other lucario as she screams, crawling on all

fours as if blind back towards me and the man. Gin looks at me and I shrug. I crawl over to the man's

body and pull the blade out of his chest with a grunt then scoot backwards away from the lucario as she

reaches the corpse. She falls across it, sobbing. Gin makes his way over to me and gets down on one

knee next to me, "What happened? She just suddenly dropped and started screaming."

I shake my head, "I killed him."

At the sound of our voices the lucario looks over in our direction, "Please, child of Darkrai, kill me too."

"Why?" I ask in bewilderment, "Why should you die with that monster?"

The lucario sniffs, "He was a monster, yes, but I loved him still." She starts sobbing again, "He was the

only one who would love me, and he was… a true mate."

Gin and I are both stunned into speechlessness. Mate? After a long silence with nothing but the lucario's

sobs I finally find my voice. "How?"

"I was discarded three times over before he found me." The lucario reaches back behind her head and

undoes the masks bindings so that the mask falls away. She has no eyes. "Even if you have a unique fur,

no one wants a pokémon that can't see."

"But James never saw me for what I could do for him and loved me just the same." She says, "He was all

I had. So please, child of Darkrai, kill me."

She then lays back on James's chest and pulls his arms around herself, nuzzling her head up under his

chin. I slowly slide over next to the lucario and her dead mate, wary that this could be a trap. I lift the

machete over her chest, and then lower it slowly until it is nearly parallel with her stomach. With one

quick thrust I bury it under her rib cage. The blade slides up into her chest cavity, and I can feel her body

spasm once as it cuts into her heart and then she is still. I scoot back slowly, looking at them. Gin walks

past me and slides the man and lucario over to a tree trunk, setting them up into a sitting position. Then

he takes the man's mask off. He steps back, staring at the man's milky grey eyes. "I guess he was blind

too."

I wincingly climb to my feet and walk over to pick up the man's blade. "Yeah." I take a deep breath and

grimace as the blood starts to soak into the waist of my pants, "I think I need to get this cleaned and

wrapped."

Gin turns to look at me and his eyes widen, "You're bleeding!"

I chuckle, as I start walking slowly back towards our cave. "Yeah, that tends to happen when someone

barely misses running you through."

Suddenly a wave of dizziness washes over me and my knees buckle. "Shit." I mutter as my knees hit the

ground and I fall forward onto all fours. Gin picks me up in his arms, and I growl, "Damn it Gin, I'm hurt,

but I'm not an invalid."

"Shut up." He growls back, "I'm not wasting time letting you bleed to death because of your damned

ego."

I hold on tight to the blade as Gin carries me back to the cave at a blinding pace. Then we spend the next

hour with Rogue both chewing us out and doting on us at the same time as we clean the wound with

antiseptic and wrap me up in gauze. I lay back against the fur cushion and sigh, then glance over at Gin

with a frown, "Why did she call me 'child of Darkrai'?"

Gin glances at me with surprised expression, "You don't know?"

I shake my head, "Know what?"

"Your aura, it makes you look like a pale inverse of Darkrai." Gin says then gestures over his head, "You

have that floaty hair deal and even a light blue collar thing. It's sort of superimposed over your body.

Kind of creepy really."

I shake my head again, "Never paid that much attention to my own aura. I would have expected you to

have said something about it when you first mastered wave sight five years ago."

Gin shrugs, "You mastered wave sight first so I thought you knew."

I close my eyes, "I guess I should have, but I didn't."

-0-

I'm nine years old again, and I'm sprinting through the hospital corridors. i_She can't be dead! She _

_promised!/i_

I blow past a pair of chansey and into a hospital room. There on the bed is a thin, fragile looking woman.

The chemo took her hair over a year ago, and now the life sign monitors show nothing but flat lines.

"NO!" I scream throwing myself over her lap, sobbing into the hospital sheets. "You promised! You

promised to make it to my birthday!"

I sob wordlessly, pressing my head against her bony chest. After a moment I whimper, "You promised."

Then I feel a cold bony hand on the back of my head, and a pained voice saying my name, "Dante?"

I look up in surprise then recoil in horror.

"Dante? Where are my eyes?" my dead mother asks, her eyes only ragged bloody holes in her face with

trickling trails of blood running out of them over her pale face. Her voice grows louder, but not stronger,

"Where have they taken my eyes!"

I take a frightened step backwards and fall over a ledge. The hospital room quickly becomes a small

patch of rapidly shrinking white light as I fall through a hole in the floor into darkness. Then even that

little light vanishes as I splash down into warm liquid.

I open my eyes, and the liquid burns, but I see nothing. I struggle to the surface, gasping as my head

breaks through. I taste the bitter coppery taste of blood on my lips and there is suddenly soft ground

under my feet and I open my eyes again. I am surrounded by blood.

"Danny!" I hear Rogue's voice calling to me from somewhere up ahead. "Danny help!"

I slog forward through the waist deep blood towards her cries, "I'm coming! Just hold on!"

My breath is coming ragged gasps as I finally emerge from the blood and onto marshy ground. I stumble

forward towards rogue's voice, now just whimpers. Suddenly she is right in front of me. Her fur is

drenched in blood from countless gashes all over her body, and my stomach twists when I see that her

hindquarters are just gone completely. "OH Arceus, no." I moan falling on my knees next to her.

Her eyes lift to gaze at me. "You promised." She whimpers, "You promised Danny."

I sob, "I'm sorry!"

I watch as her gaze goes blank, the light going out from her eyes. I lay my forehead against her side,

quietly crying, my strength just gone completely.

Something falls on the ground next to me with a wet splat. I look back over my shoulder to see a plain

white mask with a crack shot through it. Then I hear a deep, unfamiliar voice, "Give them back."

I look up in front of me and my heart pounds like it is about to explode out of my chest. Standing over

me is a massive feraligator, its flesh bloated and the skin is stretched and cracking looks down at me

with bloody holes where its eyes should be and roars, "GIVE ME BACK MY EYES!"

-0-

I bolt upright, heart thumping in my throat like a locomotive and a sharp pain in my side. I can't see

anything and I panic for a moment, but then I remember where I am. I'm in our cave, and it's night time.

Of course I can't see anything. I hear someone else stir then Rogue's voice asks, "Is everything alright?"

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, slipping into wave sight, noticing that Gin isn't here before I

nod, "Yeah, I… just need to step out for a moment to deal with some business."

I crawl out of the cave and stand up slowly, focusing on gin's aura. my sphere of sight shifts off to my

heart and stops about a hundred meters to my right where gin is sitting in a tree. I walk slowly in that

direction, stopping directly underneath Gin. "Can't sleep?"

Gin looks down at me, "No."

I slowly start climbing up to where Gin is sitting on a thick bough. "Something the matter?"

Gin shrugs, "Just thinking."

I sit down heavily next to him, "About what?"

"What do you think?" He asks solemnly, "We killed a lucario and her mate today."

"No you didn't." I reply slowly, "I did, and I thought that the lucario would have wanted to kill me, not

have it the other way around."

Gin nods, "Yeah, me too. I would have wanted vengeance"

We sit in silence for a bit, then Gin speaks up, "I think her wave guidance abilities vanished the moment

her mate died."

I pause, digesting that slowly before slowly agreeing, "Yeah, that makes sense. Since Riolu evolve based

on their bond with their human partner, it makes sense that maybe there could be other abilities tied to

that bond."

We sit in silence then an idea worms its way into my mind, I open my mouth and pause, "Gin, would you

kill someone if I asked you to?"

Gin glances at me briefly, "Probably, if they were threatening or hurting you, then yeah, I would. I trust

you, you aren't like that guy. You wouldn't ask me to kill if there wasn't a good reason. Would you do

the same for me?"

I look Gin in the eye, "In a heartbeat. You and rogue are all I have. If anyone hurts either one of you, I

don't care if an entire army stood in my way, that person will die."

Gin smiles and holds out a paw, "To hell and back?"

I nod and grasp his paw firmly, "To the depths of hell and all the way to the heavens."


	6. Chapter 6: Reemergence

A Twisting Ladder to Heaven 6

Ch6: Reemergence

"This way!" Gin shouts through the smoky haze to Rogue and I as we stumble through the smoke and

the flames following Gin away from the center of the forest fire. If it was just gin and me we could be

out of this situation by now, between the use of extreme speed and wave guidance we could have

slipped through the still blaze free sections unharmed, but Rogue can't keep up at that pace, so we need

to move slightly slower, with Gin moving ahead and leading us to the less fierce sections as we make our

way out of the forest.

I leap out of the way of a flaming limb as it falls out of a burning tree. Rogue however is not so lucky and

the limb strikes her between the shoulders and she stumbles to the ground, her mane full of burning

embers. I curse and stop to knock the burning bits out of her fur before she catches fire. I look up at a

loud snapping sound to see the tree rapidly falling straight for us. i_This is going to hurt like a bitch./i _I grab

Rogue up and hurl her out of the way. Then I find myself sliding in the dirt out of the way of the falling

tree trunk.

I instinctively roll onto all fours and look back to see a yellow and blue head sticking out from under the

trunk along with a spiked paw. My eyes go wide and I scramble to my feet, charging an aura sphere in

one hand as I go. I release the sphere and it impacts the trunk to the right of gin and the burning wood

explodes into a thousand tiny embers that rain down across my back. I grimace, wrapping my arms

around the smoldering trunk and lift it with a heavy grunt. "ROGUE! GET GIN!" I scream, my voice

ragged from the smoke and the feeling of my flesh beginning to burn.

I see Rogue dart in and drag Gin by the foot paw out from under the tree trunk and I drop it. stumbling

over to Gin and Rogue I begin muttering a million different curses. One look at Gin shows that he is out

cold, and the tree did far more damage to his back than to my chest, such is the price of being a steel

type. With a hiss of pain I throw gin across my shoulders, "Come on rogue!"

Rogue and I sprint through the inferno as quickly as we can, ducking under branches and over fallen

trees. My eyes burn from the smoke in the air and I shut them tight, relying on wave sight to guide my

way. The usual ghostly glowing of the world as seen through wave sight is made into a vision of hell by

the red flames blazing all around us.

I'm beginning to think that we may have just fallen into hell somehow and that this forest will never end

when I see it. The edge of the forest! Suddenly my legs buckle underneath me and I tumble to the

ground, and Gin's chest spike stabs into my shoulder. i_What's happening?/i_

Rogue stops next to me, "What are you doing! Get up!"

I struggle to stand up again, it hurts like hell to have a three inch spike stab into my back, but at least Gin

stays put on my back. I get half way up and stumble a couple steps before I fall on my face gasping. I'm

breathing in heaving gasps but it's as though I weren't breathing at all! Rogue gives me a strange look

then her own legs buckle and she falls over. i_Why are we so weak? Are we dying?/i_

I smile at Rogue, my vision is going dark at the corners,_ "_I think we may be dying."

I've given up on my breathing by this point, just taking shallow gasps, clutching at my chest, i_Is this really _

_the way we're going to go after all we've lived through? Suffocating just short of salvation?/i _I shut my

eyes, i_I guess it's true, life's a bitch then you die./i_

-0-

I open my eyes, which is surprising in and of itself. What's even more surprising is that I seem to be in a

pokémon center with an oxygen mask on my face. I sit up slowly. It feels like my head is going to just fall

off at any given moment, so I leave the mask on. I look around me to see Rouge and Gin on either side of

me. Gin is lying face down, but seems fine, no scaring whatsoever from having a giant flaming log sit on

his back. Damn, it's amazing what the doctors can do these days. I glance down at myself, my mauling

scars are still there, and the much smaller scar on my side from the Mask, but no sign that I ever got

burnt. Wow. I swing my legs over the side of the bed and drop onto the cold tile floor. My pants are

sitting on a stand next to my bed, and my left wrist is chained to the hospital bed. "Well… shit."

Gin stirs next to me and sits up, and I finally see the collar around his neck that ties him to the bed. He

glances over at me and I hold up my left arm, jingling the chain while I shift the mask higher on my face

to talk. "We're all fixed up but I don't think we are going anywhere for a bit."

Gin grins, "I bet you could break that off if you really wanted to."

I chuckle, pulling on my pants with my free hand, "I probably could, but I don't feel that tearing up the

bed and then running around with handcuffs on is a good idea or a good way to show our thanks for

saving our lives."

Gin sighs, fiddling with his collar. I cross over the bed and each over to Rogue, and nudge her shoulder,

"Hey, you awake?"

Rogue rolls over and smirks, "It's about time you two idiots woke up. None of the humans can

understand me and they're all real nervous around us. The chansey are nice at least."

I grin, sitting back down on the bed. "Well let's see what we can do to hurry this whole process up."

I search the bed and quickly find the nurse call button and pound the little red sucker repeatedly.

Several chansey and a machoke, an orderly I guess, bust into the room moments later. I grin at them,

"Surprise!"

The machoke's face falls, "Darn, I was hoping it was the life signs alarm."

One of the chansey jabs him in the side, "That isn't very nice."

"Hey," the machoke replies indignantly, "I'm no nurse, I'm with law enforcement. His being dead means

my job here is done." Okay, so he's not an orderly.

I stick my tongue out at the machoke, "Well, that just makes you an asshole."

The machoke takes a step towards me with an angry expression, then he stops, "Wait what?"

Rouge sits up, "He can understand pokémon speech."

The machoke is about to say something when officer jenny herself steps into the room, "It's about time

you woke up."

I smile, shifting to sit crisscross, then hold up my left arm, "Is there a reason I am chained to my bed?"

"Do you really think we'd let a legendary criminal like yourself just up and leave?" Officer Jenny retorts

"Legendary?" Gin laughs, "You hear that? We've been elevated to legendary status! We're up there with

Mew and Darkrai!"

"Alright!" I laugh, reaching over to bump my fist against Gin's paw.

Rogue shakes her head with a sigh, "You two are idiots. She said we are legendary i_criminals/i_, not

legendary pokémon. We're going to jail."

Gin and I look at each other for a moment and I chuckle, "Right, that's a bad thing, and wrong."

Officer Jenny pulls out a pad, "Wrong huh? You've been charged with over four hundred counts of petty

theft and nearly two hundred pokémon kidnappings in the past eight years. And you are suspected for

twelve counts of murder."

Gin growls, "We never kidnapped anybody! In fact, we un-kidnapped them! And we only killed one

human."

"In self defense, too." I add, "Although technically I killed him not Gin."

Jenny looks at us and puts her hands on her hips, "And the petty thefts?"

Gin and I look at each other before replying in unison, "No comment."

"Most of that stuff is probably still intact back in the cave." Rogue points out, "We could probably bring

what we have back to their owners and get a lessening of our sentence."

I nod, "Good thinking Rogue. Hey Officer, how about we cut a deal?"

Officer Jenny opens her mouth to reply, but is interrupted by a loud explosion outside. "What was

that!" Officer Jenny exclaims before running out of the room along with all the chansey and the

machoke.

After a moment there are a couple more explosions and a loud wailing. I roll my eyes, "You know, this

sounds suspiciously like a job for us."

Three tiny aura spheres later we are all free from the beds and rushing out of the pokémon center to

find people running and screaming in fear past us. There is that same loud wailing, and another

explosion that throws up a cloud of dust. When the dust clears we just stare. Finally Gin speaks, "Well

damn. A crying gyrados."

"What? How did you three escape!" Officer Jenny exclaims from across the street.

"We broke the beds." I shout over the noise of the gyrados and panicking people, I think I can almost

make out what the gyrados is crying. i_Melissa? Who the hell is Melissa?/i_

The gyrados slams into another building and cries out again. Suddenly I get a new idea. "Hey officer! I'd

like to cut a deal!"

"Now is not the time for making deals! Beside's that is the job of attorneys!" Officer Jenny exclaims,

"Machoke! See if you can get that gyrados to stop thrashing like that! It'll bring the entire town down at

this rate!"

Machoke looks at the gyrados and swallows hard and seems to hesitate. Gin laughs, "Hey gutless! If

you're to scared to do your job we'll do it for you!"

"Shut up!" the Machoke fires back, "I'm just making a plan!"

I roll my eyes, "Officer I have a plan for dealing with this gyrados, and past experience says it will work! I

just need my weapon back!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" officer Jenny replies incredulously, "You've already admitted to being guilty of at

least one count of murder! It would be grossly irresponsible for me to give a murderer his weapon of

choice back to him!"

Machoke finally moves into action. He charges forward and grabs a length of rubble and lets out a shout

before throwing the rubble at the gyrados. I'm thinking it was supposed to be an improvised rock throw.

Whether by sheer chance or some sort of skill the gyrados' writhing tail impacts the rubble and sends it

rocketing back at Machoke. Gin and I wince as the big guy is thrown off his feet and skids backwards

several yards across the concrete unconscious. I turn back to Officer Jenny, "How about now? Ready to

cut a deal?"

"You really think you can stop that Gyrados?" Jenny asks, "If you can, then your petty thefts may be

wiped off. But I am not giving you your weapon."

Rogue rolls her eyes and I cross my arms over my chest, "No blade. No deal. Also, we need our cuffs off."

"You'd let an entire town be destroyed over a petty knife!" Officer Jenny exclaims angrily.

"Maybe!" I shout back as the gyrados starts getting closer, "Would you? Cuffs off and the blade

returned or I do nothing!"

Officer Jenny sighs, "Your blade is behind the counter in the pokémon center."

She runs across the street and unlocks Gin's collar while Rogue runs inside to retrieve the blade. Rogue

returns just as Jenny finishes removing my cuff. I nod and take the blade, looping the belt around my

waist once more then turn to Gin, "I need to get her to stop squirming. So get above her and do that

trick you like to do."

"With pleasure." Gin grins, charging two aura spheres before he vanishes using extreme speed.

Officer Jenny finishes removing Rogue's collar in time to see the gyrados disappear under a storm of

aura spheres before it is driven to the ground with an earthshaking boom. Her jaw drops, "What in the

name of all things holy was that?"

I laugh, "That was the Gin Hammer."

I hurry over to where Gin is standing on the Gyrados's head. As I get closer I notice a bloody spot on the

gyrados's side where one of its scales has been shattered by something. I point to the wound, "Did you

do that Gin?"

Gin looks over his shoulder and shakes his head, "No, that's not from me."

The gyrados stirs and I crouch down next to her head. "Good morning sunshine! What seems to be the

problem that has your scalies in a bunch today?"

"They took her." the gyrados sniffles. "They took her away and they hurt me."

"Who?" I ask, hiding my relief that my theory was right, that if you smack a rampaging gyrados around

enough they'll calm down. "Who took who away?"

"The men with the white coats and rhyperior sticks. They took my savior away." The gyrados says, her

tail starting to writhe just a little. My mind starts running at a million miles an hour, i_Rhyperior sticks? _

_White coats?/i_

"Did these coats have anything on them?" I ask, hoping I can get things figured out before the gyrados

starts rampaging again.

"They had little red ladders on them. Little red twisting ladders!" she wails, "And they took her! Now

somebody is going to come and ib_**eat/i/b**_ me!"

"Hey! Hey! HEY!" I shout at the gyrados as she starts to rise up in her distress, she pauses and looks

down at me, "We can help you get your savior back!"

"But they have rhyperior sticks!"

I glance at Gin who is now clinging to the gyrados's head with a worried look. On a rampaging gyrados is

a bad place to be. "We've dealt with these people before! I promise if you just take us to where they

took her we'll get her back!"

The gyrados smiles, i_Arceus that is a/i _lot_ iof really big, pointy teeth./i_ "Thank you."

She lowers her head and Rogue hops on just before me. I wrap an arm around her and grab onto the

gyrados with the other. "Alright, lets go!"

The gyrados rises up and smoothly makes a beeline for the ocean. I grin, the sight of the ocean has

always had that effect on me, guess I'm too much an island boy. I take a deep breath of the salty air,

"Arceus, it's almost feels like coming home."

"What was that?" Gin asks glancing back at me as the gyrados glides over the town and touches down

gently in the ocean.

"I used to live by the ocean." I reply, "But I haven't seen the ocean in what feels like forever."

Gin nods, "I've never seen the ocean before, and I will admit it really is something. I've never seen so

much water."

"It's beautiful." Rogue agrees.

"Yeah, but it's full of people that want to eat you." the gyrados adds nervously. "Some of them are really

scary. I don't like swimming in it without Melissa to protect me."

Gin and I look at each other, a gutless gyrados? What the hell?

"What does Melissa do to protect you?" Rogue asks out of curiosity.

"She tells me not to be afraid, and then tells me just what I need to do to make them stop trying to get

me." the gyrados replies.

I glance at Gin and he shrugs, he doesn't really know what to think about this gyrados either. I smile,

"Well, just get us to where you lost her and we'll get her back for you.

-0-

We step off of the gyrados's back onto the sand of the beach. I look around at the crushed trees from

the incident. I turn to the gyrados, "Wait here, out of sight if possible. We'll come back here when we

have rescued your savior."

I gesture to gin and Rogue, "Alright, let's do this." After we are out of earshot of the gyrados, I sigh,

"Okay, this is going to be tougher than our usual job."

"And why exactly is that?" Gin asks with a small aura sphere already charged in his paw.

"They have armor over their bodies, and those 'rhyperior sticks'." I say closing my eyes, and the world

opens up in wave sight. "The only vulnerable spot is their heads, and if we get spotted we'll need to put

on the gas to avoid being hit by their weapons. In other words, we need to go full throttle from first

impact to the point where we escape with the gyrados and her trainer."

We continue walking as Gin and I scan the area for other people. Then rogue asks, "What if the trainer is

already dead?"

That thought stops me cold. If the trainer is dead, the gyrados will lose its nerve completely and we'll be

stuck out here on the island with what is likely an entire base full of those DNA guys with their guns and

their pokémon. We'd be completely screwed. I open my eyes and look at Rogue, "I-"

I am interrupted by a loud explosion on the other side of the island that throws up smoke and dust high

into the sky. I stare slack jawed at the column of debris that is thrown skyward. If that is some new

weapon that the DNA guys have come up with we are so fucking dead. Then I see a pink blur shoot out

of the column and arc through the air towards us and lands somewhere in the tropical forest ahead of

us. "It's Mew! Come on!"

I sprint forward with Gin and Rogue following close behind. Before long I spot a pink tail curling out of a

bush. I make a beeline for the bush and bend down over the pink body and wrap my arms around her to

pick her up. Something isn't quite right. I grunt, "Geez, you've put on some weight."

"Danny? That's not Mew." Gin says with a cough, "And you might want to stop groping her."

"What?" I look back down at the pink furred body in my arms. It is a whole hell of a lot bigger than

Mew's and it has boobs. One of which is being tightly squeezed by my right hand, and she looks damn

pissed about it. I quickly release her and step back, "Uhhh, sorry about that, uh, Miss, uh, Mew."

"I'M NOT A POKÉMON!" she screams, and I go flying backwards, thrown into the air by a wall of psychic

energy. My back slams into a tree trunk and I fall to the ground winded and wincing from the less than

graceful landing.

"And I refuse to be one of your experiments!" She continues glaring at me.

Gin leaps forward between her and me, "Hold up lady! We have nothing to do with these DNA people!"

I cough as I climb back to my feet and adjust my blade belt a bit, "Yeah, we came here trying to find the

trainer of a gyrados that ended up rampaging through some coast town." I pause, "Gin do you

remember what the gyrados said her trainer's name was? Started with an M I think."

Gin scratches his head frowning, "Melody?"

"It's Melissa." The mew girl says quietly her entire demeanor changing. "My name is Melissa."

Gin and I exchange looks as Rogue's jaw hangs open. I'm completely lost for words, what the hell was

going on? Then I hear the sound of metal sliding over metal and a quiet click. "HIT THE DECK!" I shout

lunging forward and knocking Melissa to the ground as there is a loud bang and a small hole is blown out

of the side of the palm tree Melissa had been standing next to.

I look up to see one of those white coated men that the gyrados mentioned. He pulls back a bolt on the

rhyperior stick and a hollow cylinder pops out of it before and I can see another cylinder already in the

chamber as the bolt slides forward again. The man raises the gun again but before he can fire, Gin has

loosed two aura spheres and the man flies backwards as they impact his face and chest. The man hits a

tree then falls limp to the ground his nose, mouth, and eyes all bleeding. He probably isn't getting back

up for a while.

I scramble off of Melissa and draw my blade, then pause to help Melissa up. "I think it is time we left,

don't you?"

"You have a way off the island?" Melissa asks us as she stumbles along with us, tripping over her own

feet and tail as she attempts to keep up. "And how are you running with your eyes closed?"

Rogue chuckles, "Of course we have a way off! How do you think we got here in the first place?"

Melissa gasps and turns to stare at Rogue, "You can talk?"

I stop and turn to catch Melissa as she trips over her own feet and falls. "Why don't you just fly with

us!" I hiss impatiently, "It has to be easier than running with feet you aren't used to!"

"Your mightyena can talk!" Melissa says turning to look me in the eye, "That's-"

"Not important!" Gin barks back at us, "They're closing in on our escape route. We aren't going to make

it to the beach before they cut us off at this rate."

I set Melissa back on her feet, "We can't afford to meet a bunch of them at once. Gin, we need to make

a diversion, any ideas?"

"Big explosions." Gin says with a wicked grin.

I nod with a grin of my own, "Sounds like fun." I turn to Melissa, "Go with Rogue to where your gyrados

is waiting, then meet us over that way." I point to the right, "Hurry and don't get yourself or Rogue

killed."

Gin and I both leap into the air as high as we can, over charging aura spheres as we do. At the peak of

out jump we both release the massive balls of energy and watch them rocket back to earth off to the left

towards where several of the DNA folk are heading towards Rogue and Melissa. We land and start

running the other way making as much chaos as we can firing off aura spheres left and right. I hear a

shout to our left and I abruptly change directions using a tree like a spring board. I find myself face to

face with another man, but only for a moment before my knee connects with his jaw and he sails

backwards. I snatch the rhyperior stick out of the air and quickly sheath my blade. Gin appears next to

me, "What are you doing? We should be heading to the pick up!"

I hold up the weapon and pull back the bolt like I had seen the others do and a cylinder with a small

metal piece in it pops out onto the ground. I slam the bolt back in and point the stick skyward while

pulling on the trigger mechanism on the bottom. The stick kicks backwards with a bang and I nearly drop

the weapon. Gin winces, his ears flat against his head. "Ow."

"YOU!" Gin and I turn to see a man about ten yards away dressed in the same white coat and black

pants as all the others, but somehow he seems familiar. The man points a finger at us, "You little rats!

Do you know how much grief you have caused me?"

I keep an eye on the man's weapon as I slowly reply, "Have we… met?"

"I think he was that guy whose houndoom we killed." Gin says shutting his eyes, presumably to make

sure we weren't about to be surrounded.

The man's eyes go wide, "He can talk!" A grin spreads across the man's face as he takes aim with the

weapon, "You will be valuable as specimens."

Gin vanishes using extreme speed and I lunge at the man, covering the distance in a mere two steps. I

swing the weapon like a club, and it slams into the man's arm, throwing off his aim and I think fracturing

his arm. He drops the weapon he was holding and falls clutching at his arm with a high pitched scream. I

search for Gin using Wave sight and find him right behind me, he nods and we sprint for the pickup

point, dodging weapon fire and weaving between trees as we pass by several of the DNA goons. Then

suddenly we are out in the open and standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean.

I glance down at the waves crashing over the rocks at the foot of the cliff. There is no gyrados. Gin and I

turn to see several of the goons step into the clear already aiming their rhyperior sticks at us. "End of

the line punk." One of them says loudly, "Come peacefully and we'll take you alive. resist and we'll be

doing experiments on your cold body."

Gin glances over his shoulder and looks at me, "I'd rather take my chances with the gyrados. How bout

you?"

I shrug, "I'm game."

We turn and leap as far out over the water as we can as the men behind us start firing their weapons I

feel a bullet yank on my scalp as it blasts through the end of my braid, and then we are falling out of the

men's field of fire. Gin's voice suddenly resounds in my head, "I just remembered, I don't know how to

swim!" For some reason this strikes me as comical and I hit the water laughing like an idiot.

Water shoots up my nose and I flail my arms to try and reach the surface. My head clears the surface

and I look around for gin to be splashing up next to me. after a couple moments he doesn't appear, then

I remember, i_He has a steel skeleton! He sank like a rock!/i_

I take a deep breath and dive back under the water, zeroing in on Gin's aura nearly twenty feet down

beneath me. By the time I reach him my lungs are already starting to burn. I look him in the eyes, Gin,

do not freak out., he nods, hearing my message, and then I clamp my mouth over his nose and blow in.

my air rushes into his lungs and I kick off the bottom for the surface to grab another breath before

diving back down and giving him another breath of air. On my third time down I see the gyrados finally

arriving.

She rushes past me and I grab onto her side as she grabs Gin in her mouth and rises back to the surface

and makes a bee line away from the island. I focus on Gin and call, "You alive little brother?"

Barely. Gin replies using his aura to telepathically communicate, And thanks for the rescue breaths,

but damn, your breath smells absolutely rancid.

I chuckle as I pull myself up the gyrados back to where Melissa and Rogue are perched. "So, what exactly

happened?"

Melissa glances back at me and continues forcing water from her fur, "I don't want to talk about it right

now."

"Okay." I say slowly, "What do you want to talk about right now?"

"I don't." she says with a glare.

"Okay okay!" I say quickly putting my hands up defensively, then yelp as I start to fall backwards off the

gyrados. Melissa's tail whips out and wraps tightly around my neck and pulls me back to proper balance.

I wait for her tail to release my neck as she turns to face forward again, but it doesn't. _iCan't! Breathe!/i_

I gently yank on her tail and get one hell psychic migraine for my troubles, then she sees my reason for

tugging and her tail quickly releases me. Oxygen floods my lungs and I rest my face on the gyrados's cool

scales. "Thank you." I wheeze, "If you don't mind my asking, where are we going?"

"Home." Melissa says quietly. "I'm already going to be late by more than an hour and a half now, so, my

parents are going to be really worried about me."

"That must be nice." I nod as I sit up again, my voice a bit stronger now, "Having someone at home that

would worry about you when you don't come back."

Melissa looks back at me, "What?"

I force a smile on my face as I ask, "Can we stay with you? Our home got burned down." i_And the cops _

_are probably looking for us by now but I'd rather you didn't know that./i_

"Sure, I guess." Melissa says with a shrug. "Just don't try anything."

"Promise." I breathe a sigh of relief, thank goodness she hasn't figured out how to read minds yet.

"What was that about reading minds?" she asks looking back at me curiously.

I let my forehead drop onto the gyrados's back, i_Where is Mew when you need her?/i_

"You've met Mew?"

I groan, "Melissa, please, for your own good, figure out how to stop listening to my thoughts. You really

don't want to be listening in when I have one of my nightmares."

"I don't know what his nightmares are about, but he wakes up like once a week reeking of fear and

sweat." Rogue adds with a nod.

"But that's not the real reason he doesn't want you listening in on his thoughts!" Gin pipes up from the

gyrados's mouth. "Can someone help me out of here? Please?"

"Sorry Gin, you're stuck there until we get to shore." I call back to him, ignoring Melissa's curious look,

"Wouldn't want you sinking to the bottom of the ocean."

I meet Melissa's gaze calmly and raise a brow. "You do realize you are naked right?"

Melissa's face flushes deep red under her pink fur and she whirls around so that I can't see her chest.

"Shut up!"

I smile, why do I feel like I just went from the frying pan and into the fire?

Suddenly Gin yelps, "NO! NO! BAD GYRADOS! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH THAT! NO! STOP

LICKING ME!"

I chuckle, at least I'm not the one being molested by a gyrados though.

Onward to _your_ home!


	7. Chapter 7: Island Aftermath

Men move through the rubble that is all that remains of the east wing, putting out fires and picking out survivors from the wreckage. One of the men pauses, picking up something red. He holds up the shaped metal plate so that the sun glints off it. "So the boss is dead." he says slowly, "Looks like Team Helix is under new management then."

The man turns and holds up the face plate so that everyone can see it. "Hey! Quit the search! Boss is dead, so as second in command I'm taking over Team Helix! Gather everything together and relocate it to Sigma V!"

Suddenly the pile of rubble shifts behind the man and a man rises out from underneath, twisted chunks of metal slide off his back. His chest is bloody and laced with shrapnel. He clutches a hand to his face glaring through his fingers at the man holding the red face plate. The first man turns as the bloody man growls, "Give me back my face!"

The bloody man lunges forward, swinging a steel object like a club into the side of the man's head, dropping him like a stone. He bends over, breathing heavily to pick up the red metal plate from the ground. He moves his hand and the others watching catch a glimpse of severely disfigured flesh before the red plate is covering his face, a new face permanently fixed with a disapproving frown. He looks back down at the man on the ground, "Is that really as far as your loyalty goes?" the masked man's voice is somehow amplified by the mask and carries his question to all in sight. "So you're the leader of Team Helix now? I'm afraid there is only room for one in that position." He raises the steel cylinder in his hand to point at the man at his feet who is just now stirring to look up at him. The man's eyes go wide just moments before his head explodes with a sharp crack. The masked man looks around at the others, "Well, what are you standing around for! Get moving! I want complete recovery of the data from our last test, and I want it now before we depart!" he pauses as the men scramble to follow his orders. One man in particular, a tall thin man with a short red beard and a bald head that shines brightly with sweat and is smeared with dirt. His right arm is in a sling.

"Doctor Hector, sir."

The masked man turns away from the bald man, and runs a hand over his own heavily scarred head, brushing a few wild tufts of hair that still grows here and there. "Yes Michael?"

"What are we going to do now?"

The masked man turns and you can hear the amusement in his voice as he ask, "Just what do you mean by that?"

"Sir, the entire east wing has been destroyed and the test subject escaped." He pauses, wiping his face, his fingers leaving dark smudges across his brow, "The police will definitely be here before long."

"And by that time, we should be long gone and only a smoking crater to show that we were ever here at all." Dr. Hector replies with a chuckle. "A pity that we would have to lose this particular facility since it was so nice and secluded. Never mind the wonderful weather!"

Dr. Hector laughs, an odd contrast to his frowning 'face'. Michael however seems much less pleased with the situation. "Sir with all due respect, it would seem that the Ascension Project has suffered yet another setback. Financially, we will be set back quite a ways. Replacing the material that was lost is going to be quite challenging."

Dr. Hector begins walking away towards the edge of the rubble. "Michael, today the Ascension project has taken a huge step forward, today we created our first functional human-legendary hybrid."

"Yes, a frightened young woman that we caught on the beach with her gyrados." Michael says, following close behind, "But we don't know why she was successfully hybridized while our previous human subjects were not. In fact besides that one chimeran we have-"

"i_Bu/it_ that means that the theory is proven to be usable!" Dr. Hector Interjects, holding up a finger, "And I am sure the reason behind why the chimeran and this girl were successful integrations and our men failed to successfully integrate the pokémon DNA into their bodies lies in the genomes. Perhaps there is a correlation between the individual human genomes and the different pokémon genomes. That is why I want all the data so that we can analyze it and find the secret that will enable the hybridization process to be safely implemented as originally intended."

"I still believe that the Rhyperior Man Project is a more cost efficient way of making our men equipped to take on any force." Michael replies with a huff.

"Yes, however that girl that escaped with the kind of power she exhibited in her unfocused panic easily matched that of the final product of Project Mewtwo." Dr. Hector replies with a shudder that seems to belie his apparent jubilance, "And _that_ one was capable of crushing machines like those used in your Rhyperior Man Project with ease. The ability to put that sort of power in the hands of elite troops is without a price tag."

Michael nods and continues to follow Dr. Hector in silence. Then Dr. Hector stops, "What do you plan to do about the escaped subject?"

"I was going to send a team after her to eliminate her. She will stand out quite a bit from the general population, so it shouldn't be too hard to find her."

"Don't." Dr. Hector says shaking his head, "Unless she looks to be actively causing problems for us then she is really not worth the risk that would come with our attempting to eliminate her. If we can get a dark type hybrid, all it would take is one individual to get rid of her."

Michael looks off towards the ocean where a trio of largish boats are waiting. "Sir, there is something else you may want to hear about."

Dr. Hector turns to face Michael, his dark brown eyes shining, "Yes?"

"A number of our men encountered a very powerful pair of individuals when trying to recover the test subject after the initial lab break." Michael says slowly, "One was a lucario with the ability to speak as well as a 'shiny' fur pattern. The other was a young man, late teens or early twenties, with some scarring on his chest and carrying a large blade of some kind. This individual had most of the same powers as the lucario, the use of extreme speed, above average strength, and aura spheres, not unlike the legendary individual, Sir Aaron."

Dr. Hector nods, "Have our men keep an eye out both for the test subject and these two individuals. If they find either, just observe passively until I decide whether or not they will be useful for bringing in for further study. After all, although it is rare to have a speaking pokémon, it is not unheard of. Do not engage them unless they move to actively resist us."

"What about the boy?" Michael asks, his tone tinged with impatience, "A human with the powers of a pokémon is a prime example of what the Ascension Project is all about! We could have the answer to creating the superhuman warrior you have dreamt of for so long right there!"

Dr Hector rolls his eyes behind his mask, "Michael, tell me, do you understand how aura works? The energy that lucario use?" Michael shakes his head, "The science behind it is very sketchy, and it is based more in the metaphysical than the physical. It is essentially life energy. Anything that lives has it, and perhaps not just living things but inanimate things as well as confusing as that may seem. What this means is that through constant training and meditation, a human can harness this aura in a way if not identical then very similar to the way a lucario does, although it is considerably more difficult for the human. There is nothing we can do to infuse a human with these sorts of powers. Also, even in legends where this ability appears in humans, it is always linked to a lucario partner. As such a single human would never be able to manifest these powers in any substantial way."

"How do you know all this?"

"It was one of the first things I looked into after I left Team Rocket to start Team Helix." Dr. Hector replies with a dismissive wave of a hand, "However, it seems that not all lucarios that are paired with humans can produce this sort of effect in their partners even with conscious effort on the human's part. As such I thought it was merely myths and legends. But today's sightings clearly indicate otherwise." He pauses and his eyes narrow, "However it seems odd that they would appear here only moments after the test subject escaped. There may be other forces at work here. Which brings me back to my prior order to keep tabs on them. be very discrete in your observations."

Suddenly a man dressed like so many of the other Team Helix grunts, a lab coat over white dress shirts that conceal a tough armor plate, rushes up to them, "Sir everything has been made ready for departure. Everything is ready to be loaded onto the boats."

"The charges have all been set?"

"Yes sir, set and primed." He replies holding out a detonator switch. Dr. Hector takes the detonator from the man and places it in his pocket. The grunt pauses, "Uh, sir, shouldn't you get those injuries looked at?"

Dr. Hector shrugs as he starts walking for the docks, "This isn't the first time I've had a lab be torn apart around me. I'll be just fine until we reach Sigma V. Have everyone board the boats. We are leaving now."

After nearly an hour the boats have all been loaded with material, men, and pokémon. Dr. Hector watches from the bridge of the largest of the boats as they depart the island. Walking out onto the deck he leans on the railing and pulls out the detonator. "Farewell Epsilon labs."

His thumb presses down on the switch and after a few brief moments a chain of explosions envelopes the island engulfing everything in a massive fireball that can be seen for miles around. There will be nothing left, and that is just how Dr. Hector wants it to be.


	8. Chapter 8: Dignity

As soon as the gyrados reaches shallow water, I hear a splash and lean over to see Gin splashing through

the breakers for the beach shouting, "FREEDOM!"

I laugh and leap off the gyrados, and immediately get thrown head over heels by a large breaker. I leap

back to my feet and charge ashore laughing. When I reach the sand, I fall down on my back next to

where Gin is kissing the ground. I glance from him to the gyrados, who looks genuinely disappointed,

and back again, "What? She not your type?"

I get an iron tail to the gut in response.

"I'll take that as a 'no'." I wheeze, rolling over and clutching my stomach as I try to find my breath.

Melissa jumps off the gyrados's back and floats gently until she is just a foot off theground. Her eyes go

wide and then she starts windmilling her arms as she fights to keep from rotating backwards, and failing.

As a result, she ends up giving both Gin and I a 'view'. I quickly look away, knowing damn well what not

doing so is going to get me. Gin however…

There is a dull thump and sand is blasted everywhere. Gin yelps, flying through the air to land in the

dunes. He lifts face out of the sand and starts spitting the grainy stuff out, wiping at his tongue with one

paw. "What the hell woman?"

"Don't you dare look at me there!" Melissa shouts back at him, and I have to fight the urge to look

myself. iDamn reverse psychology!/i

So, in order to keep from being blasted like gin was, I look around the rest of the beach at the gathered

people as they stare at us, mostly Melissa and the gyrados but Gin and I are getting some looks too. I'm

not used to crowds of people looking at me. Being a bit of a hermit will do that to you.

I risk a glance backwards and am relieved to find that Melissa has not only righted herself, but also

finally touched down and is covering herself as best she can with her tail and arms. However, she is

clearly even more uncomfortable than me with all the attention. She keeps her head down and is

scooting closer to her gyrados, almost trying to hide in the big girl's shadow. I can't blame her for

wanting to. I can't think of anything except that I really wish the forest hadn't caught fire and forced us

all out here.

Rogue fortunately has no such problems and barks as she hops down off the gyrados, "Danny, get

Melissa something to cover up with and let's get going! We're wasting time here!"

I nod, "Right!"

Now with some sort of action plan, I climb to my feet and brush as much of the sand off of myself as I

can, "Okay, but first I need a pokéball."

Melissa turns to me with a frightened look, "Don't you dare!"

I tilt my head as I turn to look at her, then it hits me, she thinks I'm going to try and capture her!

"Not for you! For her!" I exclaim gesturing to the gyrados, "She needs a pokéball because she is too

damn scary looking for us to just waltz up main street with her out and not draw any more unwanted

attention than we are already going to be getting."

"Me scary?" the gyrados asks in surprise. I can't help but slap my palm against my forehead.

I then search the crowd of people that are staring at me until I find a trainer. Then I spot one. He kind of

sticks out actually, all black clothing, dark shades, and bright silver hair. I point a finger at him, "Hey you!

Come here!"

The boy points to himself with a surprised expression. I nod and gesture for him to hurry up. He walks

over, "What?"

I sigh, "I need a pokéball for the big blue girl."

"What?"

I point to the gyrados, "Her ball fell in the ocean. So I need a replacement."

"I can't help you with that." the boy says with a shrug, "One ball to a pokémon. You need the original to

transfer her to a different ball." He scratches his head, "It's kind of common knowledge."

I grimace, "Well, shit."

"They took the pokéball and released her." Melissa says quietly behind me.

"They?" the boy asks, "Someone took your pokémon's pokéball and released them against your will?"

I'm about to snap at him that I'm not a trainer but bite my tongue quickly, replying with a strained,

"Yesss. And I got her back, so now I need a new pokéball."

"So why did you tell me that you dropped her ball?" the boy asks looking at me out of the corner of his

eye suspiciously.

I grit my teeth, "Just give me a damn ball."

The boy takes a step back, then pulls a miniaturized ball out of his pocket and tosses it to me, I catch it

turn it over for a bit. i_How the hell do these things work again?/i_

Gin comes over to me with a smirk, "It has a button. Press it."

I press the button and the ball expands to full size. "Thank you." Then chuck the ball at the gyrados, who

disappears inside with a red flash, and not long after the ball lets out a ding. i_People consider this an _

_accomplishment?/i_

Melissa picks up the ball with one hand and I move on to the next phase of the plan. A quick scan of the

beach shows several items with potential, and then I see a quilt. _iThere we go./i_

I jog over to the blanket and bow to the two ladies lying across it, "Pardon me, madams, but I need this."

I then try to pull that table cloth trick. The one where you yank it out from under a set table and nothing

falls over or spills. It fails. Miserably. The two women are spun around before they land in a heap on top

of each other.

"Whoops." I shrug and start walking back over to Melissa.

"Hey asshole! Where do you think you're going with our blanket?"

Turn to see both women coming towards me, and they are understandably furious. I raise a brow, "My

friend needs a little dignity, and unless you want me to take your swimsuits instead, I suggest you chill

the fuck out."

"We were using that!" the other woman exclaims trying to grab back the quilt."To do what? Sunbathe?"

I retort, "I have a friend with no clothes right now. And in my mind her feeling ashamed over that takes

precedence over your sunbathing!"

The woman recoils as I jerk the quilt back away from her. Her friend steps forward and slaps me. "Who

the hell do you think you are?"

Rogue starts walking over and I chuckle before turning, "Take it up with my boss."

"Complaint processed." Rogue growls.

Suddenly I double over as Rogue head butts me in the balls. i_It's been awhile since that last happened. _

_Almost forgot how much that hurts./i_ I sink to my knees, my face pressing into the hot sand as I clutch

my wounded pride. A small whine slipping past my lips as I try to speak, "Why?"

"Because you're being both a dick and an idiot." Rogue replies calmly, taking the quilt and throwing it

back out and spreading it on the sand. She turns back to me as I pull my face out of the sand. "Danny,

we just got our record of thefts cleared. I don't think we should start racking up new ones."

"Point taken." I squeak out as Gin helps me back to my feet. I clear my throat and try again at talking,

"What about Melissa? She still needs something."

"Give her your pants." Gin says with a shrug. "And before you say anything, it's the only real option."

I glance back at Melissa who still looks really damn uncomfortable. I sigh, "Fine." I wave at Melissa, "Hey

Melissa! Come here!"

Mellissa quickly walks over to where the rest of us are, "What?"

I rub the back of my head, fighting the urge to fiddle with my braid, "You, um, seem really

uncomfortable right now with your whole, uh, clothing issue." I can see a blush spread beneath her pink

fur which is more than enough to tell me that I am severely understating her discomfort. "And, I was

wondering if you would like my pants."

She looks at me with a long blank stare that is making me even more uncomfortable by the second.

Finally, she replies, "They won't fit. I have a tail and my hips…"

I glance down, taking a quick look at her hips. They are kinda wide, probably more than before she got

turned into a Mew person. Suddenly my head jerks back up to look her in the eyes, but not of my own

doing. i_The hell?/i_ I see a slight glow coming from her eyes and then I know. i_She's using psychic _

_to manipulate me!/i_

"What? I am? How?" Melissa suddenly asks as her eyes go wide and the glow goes out.

I shrug, "Don't know, but you did. Regardless the pants don't need to actually go on your legs. You can

alter the way you put it on."

"How?" Melissa asks with a confused look, her ears flattened out to the sides cutely.

"I have an idea." Gin says with a grin, "Hurry up and take off your pants."

As I undo my belt, I suddenly remember what kind of underwear I have on and I can feel my face start to

turn pink. I take a deep breath and loosen the draw string of my pants and slide them off to reveal the

underwear underneath. Melissa giggles and my entire face heats up as it goes from pink to a deep

tamato berry red.

"Really?" Melissa asks in amused disbelief, raising a brow comically.

"Brother, when Mew hears about this you will never hear the end of it." Gin says with a chuckle.

My underwear is a pair of pale grey boxers, I'm not sure of just what material but it's kinda silky, and

they are covered with pink cartoony Mew faces. Mew refuses to make any other kind for me. iI knew I

should have stolen some normal underwear when I had the chance./i I shut my eyes and slowly hiss,

"You say you have an idea to make the pants work for Melissa?"

Hearing my tone, Gin's ears flatten against his head briefly before he scoops up the trousers. "Take

these and tie them around your neck so that the waist hangs down in front of you."

Melissa takes the trousers and does as Gin directs her. Then Gin picks up my blade belt.

"Oh hell no, you are not taking my blade and giving it to her!" I exclaim yanking the belt back out of his

paws. "I am not surrendering what is left of my dignity!"

However, in the blink of an eye the belt has been yanked out of the sheath's loop and is being cinched

around Melissa's waist turning my trousers into a kind of sexy apron or something. I rub my chin

thoughtfully as I hold the blade in its sheath under one arm, "You know, that actually looks pretty neat."

Melissa's ears dip slightly and she smiles just a little before making her way over to the dune crosswalk.

Gin, Rogue, and I follow close behind.

The trip through town is pretty uneventful, thank Arceus. The less time I have to spend walking around

in my Mew boxers the better. Melissa must live on the very damn edge of town judging from the way

we have now left the tightly packed city and moved into a pleasantly wooded development full of large

properties. You know, the kind where you see a mailbox on the side of a road with a path leading way

the hell back into a massive property so that you can't even see the house unless it is tall enough to

peek above the tops of some trees like a castle parapet in the distance.

I'm about to ask if we are close yet when a young kid runs over. "Hey mister!"

I stop and give the kid a look, "Who me?"

"Yeah!" he says excitedly, "You look kind of funny with those shorts but you have some really powerful

looking pokémon and I want to battle you!"

"Uh, no." I say with a grin and keep walking with Melissa, who didn't stop when the boy ran up.

I hoped he would just leave, but instead he starts following us. "Aww c'mon! It's just a quick one on

one!"

"He said no." Gin says rolling his eyes.

"Holy crap! Your lucario is shiny iand/i it talks!" he gets right up next to me, "C'mon,

pleeeeeease?"

I take several hopping skips sideways away from the blond haired ten year old. "What the hell is wrong

with you? I said no damnit! I don't have any pokémon!"

"But there is a lucario and a mightyena right here walking with you! You have to be a trainer!" he whines

loudly. Melissa covers her ears but otherwise just ignores the entire thing.

I however, froze when he said 'trainer'. I lean forward with a forced smile, "I'm sorry. What did you just

call me?"

The kid freezes, but forges ahead anyway, "You're a trainer. I'm a trainer. We meet, we battle. It's the

way things work."

Gin's eyes widen and Rogue winces. I grit my teeth, "I am inot/i a trainer."

The kid frowns, "But…"

"BUT NOTHING." I snarl, jabbing a finger into his chest, "Who are you to presume that you know a damn

thing about the way things work!"

He takes a step back, "But everybody tells me that trainers battle. I mean there is a whole league and…"

I laugh, "Oh, so 'ieverybody/i' says that's how it should be done. Well, has anybody ever told you

about how the gardevoir cry during the night for their children who have been stolen away from them

by trainers?" I take another step forward, "Or how about the young pokémon whose parents never

came home from hunting or gathering berries for them because a trainer caught them? Anybody ever

tell you about them?"

The kid stares at me, "What are you talking about?"

"For Cresselia's sake!" I exclaim, "Have you ever once thought about how the pokémon feel? Have you

ever once considered what the pokémon want?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know what they want?" the kid exclaims, "They can't talk!"

I grin and throw my arms out theatrically, "Well then today is your lucky day kid, because I can

understand pokémon as if they were speaking plain English!"

"And even if he couldn't I could always translate for you." Gin says with a shrug, then after a moment

adds, "And never call him a trainer. The last person to do that got a black eye." He smiles and licks his

lips, "And then we ate all his snacks while he was unconscious."

The kid stares at Gin for a moment, and then stares at me before replying with a drawn out, "Oookay.

I'm game."

He pulls a miniaturized pokéball, resizes it, and releases the pokémon inside. When the red glow fades I

find myself looking at a little cyndaquil. It shakes itself and looks up at me before turning to the boy,

"Who the hell is this nut?"

I slap the palm of my hand against my forehead. Gin chuckles, "Way to make a good first impression,

squirt."

"Walking around in Mew print boxers isn't exactly the best way to make a good first impression either,

freak." The cyndaquil fires back. "Besides it's not like he can understand me."

"Kid, your cyndaquil is a jerk." I say through clenched teeth, "Anyway, cyndaquil, do you enjoy this kid's

company?"

"It beats being bored out of my freaking skull in the professor's lab any day." the cyndaquil says

noncommittally. Then its eyes widen, "Wait, what?"

I grin, "Yah, I look like a human, but I'm really a pokemon. Next question, what do you want from life?"

The cyndaquil stares at me, "What?"

"Basically, what are looking to attain in life?" I say gesturing with a hand as I list off a couple ideas, "For

instance, do you want to have a family? Become the strongest? Be famous?"

"I kinda like those last two." The Cyndaquil says scratching itself behind the ear with a hind leg, "But as I

said, anything beats the lab."

I stand back up and smile, "Well, that's good to know. Do you have any complaints about the way things

are now?"

"Yeah, being stuck in the pokéball all the time is almost as bad as the lab." He says looking over his

shoulder at the blonde boy, "I want to see the world."

Rogue giggles, "You want to be a globe trotter."

"Yeah!" the cyndaquil exclaims, "I really want to just see everything this world has to offer!"

I grin at the boy, who had been watching the whole thing with obvious curiosity. "Well, he's happy to be

out of the lab, but he'd like to be out of the ball more as well. He is interested in fame and power, but it

seems what he wants most is to travel and see the world. Does that sound good to you?"

He nods, "That's why I wanted to be a trainer."

I give him a thumbs up, "Well, you two go after that, but try to remember that pokémon have lives too,

with families and dreams. Even in the 'wild'."

He nods, "I will. So, will you battle me now?"

"Nope." I reply as I turn and continue walking down the road, "No offense to your cyndaquil, but you

two are hopelessly outmatched and I'd feel like a real bastard if I whooped up on you, and I think it

would be real embarrassing for you to get beat by a guy walking around in Mew boxers."

"But I have to train if I want to get better." The boy replies, following after me, "If you really are that

powerful, tell me how you got to be that way!"

I keep walking behind Melissa, "Train with your pokémon every day, work hard at everything you do, try

to only bite off a little more than you can chew at any given time, and a free range diet like you would

have living in the wild."

"And always remember that your pokémon are not tools or weapons." Melissa adds, "They are partners

and friends."

Gin nods, "They are family."

"Thanks mister." The boy grins, and looks down at the cyndaquil, "Alright Blaze, let's go."

I chuckle as the cyndaquil makes a face, "That name is so lame! Almost every cyndoquil that old fart has

given away gets that name!" he glances at me, "But it beats Cyndi, that's for sure!"

The boy and the cyndaquil run off and we keep going for another couple minutes. Finally Rogue asks,

"So where is your house?"

Melissa points to the right of the road we are on, where a pair of wrought iron gates block the way into

a walled property. I run ahead and hop up onto the wall and my jaw drops. "Well, damn."

Gin hops up next to me and his tail starts wagging. "I like the looks of this. I like it a lot."


	9. Chapter 9: New Real Estate

It wasn't that the house was enormous or a beautiful building in classical style. That wasn't why

Gin and I were practically drooling over Melissa's home. No, we were staring at the grounds.

The drive was not much, just a fenced in concrete slab leading up to a circle drive with a

fountain in the middle. But on either side of that drive were at least four different 'regions'.

The first region, right below us next to the outer wall, was a sandy expanse with several large

boulders scattered through it. I've always wanted to try sparing in a sand pit, it would probably

not hurt as much being tossed to the ground there, and the shifting sand would be an

interesting challenge.

There is a forest glade opposite the desert and next to that is a meadow with flowers in it. On

the other side of the desert is a zone with a miniature mountain with a small cave in it. I shake

my head and look back behind Gin and I to see Melissa watching us. "You're family must be

loaded!" I exclaim as I walk along the top of the wall to the gate as Melissa punches a code into

a panel on the wall.

The gates swing open to allow Melissa and Rogue access to the grounds, although I know damn

well that Rogue could have jumped the wall in a heartbeat. Gin and I hop down from the wall to

walk on the drive next to the girls. Gin tugs on one of his head ornaments, "Is there any

particular reason for the different regions being represented here? Or did your family just want

to be able to take a vacation anywhere without ever leaving home?"

Melissa laughs, "My mom always wanted to open a pokémon daycare in our home. Dad has a

very successful legal business, and invested his money very well early on. As a result she is

getting her dream, and we are just waiting on the contractors to finish with the septic system

that will connect everything and make it licensable as a daycare."

"Nice." Rogue comments, looking around the grounds, "So is there more in the back?"

Melissa nods then stops suddenly. We all stop and watch her as a confused expression crosses

her face.

"I understood her." she says, "Can she talk too?"

I shake my head, "No, you can understand her because you are part pokémon now." I grin,

"Don't you remember how you were getting ready to freak out over that on the island?"

"So how do you understand her?" Melissa asks, starting up the drive again.

I shrug, "Wave guidance probably."

Melissa frowns, "Wave guidance? What the hell is that?"

Gin and I look at each other and shrug. "Not entirely sure actually." I admit, "All we do know is

that it requires a lucario-human pairing."

Melissa stares at us as we reach the front door. "So you two are…" she trails off before

shuddering.

Rogue snickers but doesn't say anything. I tilt my head to the side and glance at Gin who seems

similarly baffled. "We are what?" he asks scratching his head.

"Uh, a gay couple." Melissa says her ears flat against her skull.

Gin's ears flatten back and his face twists up in an expression of disgust and I mirror that look

with my own expression. "Hell no!" we both exclaim.

"He's my brother!" Gin exclaims pointing at me with a paw, "Besides! We are both straight!"

I shake my head, "Where did you get off thinking it was a sexual thing?"

"Well, you said pairing, and usually a pairing when referring to pokémon is mating." Melissa

admits with an embarrassed expression.

Gin shakes his head, "It doesn't have anything to do with that."

I scratch my chin, "Not actual mating at least. I think it _is_ related to a close relationship though.

The only other example of wave guidance we have run across actually was a lucario and a

human who did have a mating relationship." I shrug, "But Gin and I are not sexing each other

up. Also, will we be going inside or not?"

Melissa nods and makes as though reaching into a back pocket then palms her forehead,

"Right, I don't have my key." She then leans over and pushes a bronze plate underneath a small

speaker embedded in the stucco wall beside the door, "Chrystal, please come open the front

door for me and my guests."

Melissa glances at me as she steps back from the doors. "You may want to step-"

WHAM!

My world spins wildly and I land on my face several feet away from the doorstep. I get up on

my knees clutching my head. "What in the hell hit me?" I groan, still trying to stop the world

from spinning around me.

"OH MY GOD! HE'S SO CUTE!" a feminine voice shouts gleefully.

I look up to see a blue and yellow blur whirling around a green, red, and white one. Then Gin

starts shouting, "HELP!"

Normally that would have me on my feet ready to knock some heads together. However, the

way Rogue and Melissa are laughing through all this contradicts the desperate tone in Gin's

voice. I shake my head and rub my eyes, and what I see when I take another look sets me to

laughing as well.

A gardevoir has Gin tightly wrapped in her arms as she spins around on one foot. A huge grin

splits her face a she hugs him like a child would hug a beloved stuffed animal. Suddenly she

makes a face, "But he smells funny."

Gin blinks in surprise, and then squirms out of the gardevoir's grasp. "Well _excuse_ me for

not having soap!" he replies sarcastically, taking a few steps back from the ivory skinned

female. He gives me a pointed look, "It's not my fault that _somebody_ never bothers to

get the soap. Never mind the fact that I spent a large part of today sitting in a gyrados's

mouth!"

I chuckle, "Don't try to pin your smell on me. It's not like you take baths regularly anyway."

The gardevoir turns and looks at me. She giggles behind a hand and I remember just what I am

wearing. I can feel my face turns a bright pink in embarrassment.

Melissa clears her throat, "And on that note, I will have to insist that you, all three of you,

bathe, with **soap**, before touching the furniture in any way."

The gardevoir turns to Melissa and freezes, "Wow, you got furry."

Melissa's jaw hangs open for a moment and I can't help but snicker. Then Melissa shakes her

head as though to clear it, "That's it, Crystal? I got _furry_? I got turned into a hideous

mutant Mew _thing_ for Cresselia's sake!"

Crystal points at me, "That's not what he thinks. He thinks you're quite attractive."

My eyes go wide in horror, Gin laughs, Rogue snickers, and Melissa's jaw drops again. I can feel

my heart pounding as my face flushes a red rarely seen on a face that didn't belong to a

blaziken and I my body feels like I'm in an oven from the heat of my humiliated blush. Crystal

tilts her head to the side, "What? Did I say something funny?"

"No, not really." I say as I march over to where Gin is rolling on the ground laughing and grab

him by the head ornaments and start dragging him inside, "Bath time, Gin."

"What?" Gin yelps clutching at his ornaments, "NO! I am not getting bathed by you! Fuck that!"

I stop, and look down at him with a wicked grin, "Oh?" I turn to loudly call over my shoulder,

"Hey Chrystal, do you want to give the cute 'cario a bath?"

Her eyes go wide and a delighted grin splits her face. Gin's eyes go wide too, but in terror. He

leaps to his feet and I find myself yanked off mine. "_NOOOOOO_! I CAN BATHE MYSELF!"

I hold tight to Gin's head ornaments as I am dragged a laminated hardwood floor and through

an ornate hall with pristine white walls. A sparkling series of chandeliers hold the light bulbs

that illuminate the room. It's strange the things you'll notice at times like these.

Then the hardwood suddenly turns to carpet and I release Gin in favor of not having my

underwear yanked off. I roll backwards once and slide to a stop on the thick, eggshell colored

carpet. I lift my face out of the plush flooring and grin._ That was actually kind of fun! If it _

_weren't for the fact that Gin would probably sucker punch me if I ever tried being towed by his _

_head ornaments again, I would like to try waterskiing like that._ I frown, _Then again, he _

_might sink if he had that much resistance on him while he tried to water run._

I stand up and look around the living room I find myself in. Regardless of whether I could water

ski behind Gin or not, I still need to find him and a shower. I quickly find both, conveniently

located in the same place, using wave sight. The door is closed, but I doubt it is locked, and my

assumption is confirmed as the knob turns easily in my hand. I open the door quickly and Gin

whirls around in surprise. When he see me he shakes his head. "No, I am not letting you bathe

me. That is just… no, not doing it."

I chuckle as I step into the bathroom and shut the door behind me, locking it. "Fine by me. If did

any washing of you at all, it would have just been your back. However, you don't know how to

operate a shower."

Gin holds up a paw and opens his mouth, probably to object, and then shuts it again. "Fine."

I chuckle and move past him to the shower. I whistle quietly, damn this thing is nice, but it looks

like nothing I've ever seen before. The shower is a large square room big enough for three

people to shower comfortably. The door into the shower is in one corner of the shower while in

the opposite corner of the shower there is a shelf set back into the walls of the shower where

there are several kinds of soap including pokémon shampoo, a nice big bar of soap, as well as

human shampoo and conditioner. To the right of this shelf are two rows of shower control

knobs. There are like eight knobs on the wall. They all look to be the kind where you twist it

around from cold to hot, which is nice. But why in the hell are there so many? It's strange,

especially since I don't see any shower heads, which is odd.

I gesture for Gin to come over. When he is standing next to me in the shower, I point to the

knobs, "See these? You turn these and then you get sprayed with water that is either hot or

cold depending on how far you turn the knob. The farther you turn it the hotter the water

gets."

"Like this?" Gin asks, reaching out a paw to flick one of the knobs. Suddenly icy water shoots

out of the wall in front of us, blinding us and eliciting high pitched yelps and garbled curses. Gin

swats wildly at the knobs and suddenly there is icy cold water shooting out of the _floor_! I

shove him away from the knobs. Using a hand to block the jet spraying me in the face I reach

out to turn off the water. Gin hits the wall with a thud and curses as his feet slip out from under

him. He slips and his flailing legs sweep me off my feet. As I fall I grab the wrong knob and it

turns on yet another wall of icy cold water jets. Now there is icy water spraying at us from three

directions, in front of, underneath, _and_ behind us!

_Screw this!_ I think to myself before shouting, "Abort! Abort!"

Gin and I pile out of the shower. On the way out, we both trip on the lifted ledge below the

door. I fall on top of Gin as we tumble to the bathroom floor. I quickly roll off of him and sit up,

wiping water from my face.

"What in the bloody hell, man?" Gin exclaims giving me an incredulous look, "I thought you

said you knew how to use a shower!"

I make a face, "Yeah, I do, just not _that_ shower." I glance down at the murky water

pooling on the tile floor as it runs off of us. "Damn Gin, you'd think sinking to the bottom of the

ocean followed by a gyrados tongue bath would have cleaned you up a little better."

He shudders, "I'd rather not think about either of those events right now." He gestures to my

braid as it drips dark water onto the white bathroom tiles. "And that is downright disgusting.

You don't even have fur and your running dark water."

"Bah!" I retort. We sit there in silence for a minute. Then Gin chuckles.

"What the hell was with that gyrados anyway?" he muses with a grin, "She was scared of

everything!"

I laugh, "I know! I wonder if all Melissa's pokémon have quirks like that."

Gin shrugs, "I don't know, but I think the gardevoir might have some eyesight issues."

"Why do you say that?" Crystal asks looking down at us.

I nearly jump out of my skin, but manage to keep from screaming like Gin does. Crystal giggles

then hands me a pokémon brush, you know the kind they use at the groomers. "Melissa told

me to give you two this, she says that it will make cleaning yourselves up easier." She shuts her

eyes for a moment, then smiles, "And the water has been adjusted so that it is only coming

from above and is a nice warm temperature. Enjoy."

And with that she vanishes. Gin and I look at each other. _Okay then._

I forgot how good it felt to have a hot shower, and gin took forever to brush himself, shampoo,

brush, rinse, brush, towel dry, and then brush himself one more time. I think he really likes that

brush. As a result it was nearly an hour later before Gin and I stepped out of the bathroom. I

cinch the towel up a little higher as I brush my hair back. "So what now?"

"Now you change into these!" Chrystal bubbles, throwing some clothes in my face. I catch them

and then stare at her.

"Danny, she has your underwear on her head." Gin whispers to me without taking his eyes off

of Crystal.

"I can see that. The question is how she got them and why are they on her head." I muse, but I

can't help but notice that my underwear is not the only article of mine she has on. She is also

wearing my pants, but in a much more orthodox manner. She has her gown hiked up and

secured with a pair of scrunchies behind her and is wearing my pants in the normal fashion. She

even has my blade belted to her waist.

She grins at us, pulling the waistband of the boxers down so that it covers one eye before

striking a pose. She plants her feet wide apart and places her hands on her hips before thrusting

out her chest and growling, "Arrrgh! I'm a pirate!"

She then sprints down the hall laughing maniacally. Gin and I stare after her, even after she

turns a corner and disappears. "What in the hell was that?" I wonder aloud.

Gin chuckles, "Maybe she's not blind, just crazy."

I drop my towel and start to dress myself. I am just starting to pull on the blue athletic shorts

Crystal had given me, when she suddenly flies back down the hall screaming, "Noooo! I wanna

be a pirate!"

I glance down at Gin who just shrugs, and then suddenly I am yanked off my feet as Melissa

sprints by shouting at Crystal, "You can't do that with other people's stuff! Come back here!"

As I am hauled down the hall by Melissa's tail, which has wrapped around my ankle, I take the

moment to curse the forest fire one more time, but then something hits me. _Melissa is _

_running a good six inches off the ground._ I grin, _She's figuring out her powers!_

Then she turns a corner sharply and I am hit by something completely different. A wall.

WHAM!

I see stars as Melissa's tail releases me and I instinctively sit up. Apparently Melissa stopped

moving when I hit the wall, because as I sit up, I bump right into her rump. I reflexively scuttle

backwards until my back is against the wall. Fortunately, Melissa is wearing something by this

point, a green skirt with a white blouse that covers herself decently, and looks nice too.

Melissa looks down at me in surprise. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I reply with a chuckle, gingerly rubbing the back of my head, "Though that is the

second time today your tail has tried to kill me."

I glance at the space between Melissa's feet and the floor. She doesn't seem to notice that she

isn't on the ground. I point at the gap, "You do realize you are floating right?"

Melissa's eyes widen and she bends over quickly to get a better look, "What?"

And then she continues to rotate. "Nooo! Not again!"

I lean forward and grab her shoulders, stopping her rotation. "Just stay still for a sec." I tell her

as I let her go and stand up. Now on my feet I walk around her, "I'm going to grab your feet,

and put them on the ground. Do not blast me. I am not looking up your skirt."

I lean over and grab her feet, and then crouch so that they are brought to the floor and I don't

lift my head at all. As soon as her feet touch the floor whatever levitating power was keeping

her up vanishes and she tumbles forward to sit on her tail. "Dammit! I fucking hate this shit!"

I raise a brow, that's the first I've heard her curse. "You know, being a pokémon isn't all that

bad."

She sniffs and doesn't look at me, "Oh yeah? What would you know about it?"

I sit down so that we are back to back, "Oh I don't know. Maybe it is because I have spent more

time in the company of pokémon than humans. Maybe it is the fact that I was trained by a

pokémon. How about being employed by pokémon? Or maybe it is because I have lived

as a pokémon for the past eight years. Eating what they eat, sleeping where they sleep, and

drinking from the same streams as them. Hell, even crapping in the same ditches as them." I

reach back and scritch the top of Melissa's head, "I'm like the opposite of you, pokémon on the

inside, but human on the outside. Trust me on this, things will work out, and I can promise that

you will find that you can be just as happy the way you are now as you ever were before."

"Really?" Melissa asks with a sniff, "You really think so?"

I turn around, slipping off my quickclaw and feraligator tooth necklace. "See this? This is proof

that things can work out even in some of the worst situations." I pause, "And until we can get

you to that point, it is yours."

Melissa turns around and looks at me in surprise, "We?"

I nod, "I really owe you for putting us up and giving me clothes. It's not easy being uprooted,

and I know that you know the cops are probably looking for us, but you are letting us stay here

anyway." I shrug then chuckle, running my fingers through my hair, "Plus if it means we can

stay longer, I'd do just about anything. Your place is really cool."

Melissa chuckles and takes the necklace from me, "Thank you? Are you hungry? It's a bit early

for dinner, but with my parents gone the meal schedule gets thrown out the window anyway."

I stand up and help Melissa to her feet, "So it's just us?"

"Us, your pokémon companions, and mine, but as far as humans go, yeah, just us." Melissa

replies leading me to a kitchen where all my clothes and my blade are piled on the table in a

disorderly mess. Crystal is sitting at the table with a deck of cards, making them fly around the

room with telekinesis while making space ship noises. Several of the cards break off from the

rest and start dive bombing Melisa and I.

I chuckle, ducking under an ace of hearts as I make my way to the fridge. I throw wide the doors

with a grin, and a quick search leads me to what I'm looking for. I lift the fillet of magikarp over

my head with a happy exclamation, "I'm cooking! You ain't ever tasted nothing until you've

tasted my cheri marinated magikarp!"

Melissa shakes her head, "We aren't having magikarp for dinner."

I frown, and lower the fish. "Why? You don't trust my cooking?"

Melissa shrugs, "Well, I'm a vegan."

I scratch my head and set the magikarp on the counter, "What is a vegan?"

"I don't eat anything from an animal. No meat, no eggs, no milk. I eat all fruits and vegetables

though." Melissa say giving me an odd look as my jaw hangs open in disbelief.

_No meat? How in the hell can anyone eat no meat?_ I wonder to myself.

"I don't like eating pokémon." Melissa says her expression hardening. "I thought you of all

people would understand that."

I shake my head, "Pokemon eat each other. It is accepted that when someone gets hungry they

will eat you."

"Regardless," A deep voice behind me adds, "That is my magikarp."

I turn around and look up. Blue scales, tower of muscle, lots of teeth, a pair of red eyes. It's a

feraligatr. I can feel my heart stop for a split second, _**FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-**_


	10. Chapter 10: Settling In

I leap backwards and slam into Melissa. We both tumble to the ground, but I tuck my knees in and roll backwards over Melissa. I pop back up with a pair of aura spheres charged.

However, the feraligatr just stares at me and scratches his chin. "Yah, hello. Nice to meet you, too. Who the hell are you people and what are you doing in our house?"

"The long haired guy is Danny, and Melissa got all pink and furry while she was out." Chrystal replies as all the cards come together in a tight swarm and start doing laps around the feraligatr.

The feraligatr stares at Melissa for a moment then nods, "Okay." He then picks up the magikarp fillet and sticks it back in the refrigerator.

Melissa sits up gives me a bewildered look then turns back to the feraligatr, "Why are all of you so damn calm about me being turned into a pokémon?"

The feraligatr shrugs, "Doesn't seem too big a deal to me. So you're a pokémon now, congratulations, you can understand pokemon now. You can also still speak English, so humans can understand you. Everything is fine. Also, have the guy with the wild hair put those blue orbs away. How is he doing that anyway?"

I look down at my hands and slowly diffuse the focused aura energy. "I can understand you just fine myself."

The feraligatr gives me a raised brow and a rumbling chuckle, "Oh really now? So you can understand me when I call you a scrawny aipom."

I sigh, "Yes, I can understand you when you call me a scrawny aipom."

The feraligatr nods, "Well that's certainly convenient. By the way, there is a mightyena swimming in my pond. Just checking to make sure whether or not she is supposed to be here before I actually do something about it."

Melissa smiles, "Thank you Gile, I'm glad you came to me first. Yes, she is supposed to be here. She is with Danny and Gin. He's the lucario you will eventually see around here."

I frown, _Gile? Why the hell does that sound familiar?_

Suddenly Gin pipes up next to me making me jump in surprise, "Wasn't Gile the name of that one totodile that one girl had with her? You know the first rescue mission we did with the arcanine? That one."

_When the hell did he get here? Wait! __**DA FUCK?**_ Chrystal whirls around and all the cards fall out of the air as she stares at me. Melissa flinches, "Ow."

Gile looks from Chrystal to Melissa and then at me. He snorts, "You look like you just had carrot shoved up your ass."

I drag my hand across my face and shake my head, "Please tell me you are not the two that Gin and I liberated the growlithe from eight years ago."

Melissa giggles, "Why?"

"Because it would just be really damn weird." I reply, "It just is."

"What if it's fate?" Melissa asks with a grin.

"No such thing." Gin and I reply in unison.

Melissa seems taken aback, "Why not?"

"We make our own choices. Each one of us." I say. "There is no cosmic being controlling us like puppets."

"The world is too fluid for any of one force to make a discernible difference in every individual's life that would guide them all to any one ultimate destiny." Gin adds.

"Well aren't you a couple of philosophers." Gile comments wryly. "Where did you find these clowns, Melissa?"

"These 'clowns' are the only reason I'm not floating in a giant test tube in some creepy bastard's lab right now." Melissa replies, her tail flicking in annoyance, "And they found me."

Gile gives me a suspicious look, "Oooookay. So why are they here now?"

"They need a place to stay." Melissa replies making her way to fridge and starts getting out a wide assortment of vegetables, fruits and berries. "So they are staying here. Do you have a problem with that?"

I have heard that tone of voice before, both from my stepmother and from Rogue. You do not object. Ever. Gile swallows hard and shakes his head, "No ma'am."

"Good!" Melissa says with a sweet smile as she pulls out a couple sugar beets and throws them in the sink.

Chrystal hops up and dashes over to me and grabs my hand. I feel the gentle gripping sensation of telekinesis and I begin floating along behind the gardevoir as she sprints out of the kitchen and up some stairs. She then turns abruptly, nearly sling-shotting me down the hall. Fortunately for me, she manages to just sling me into a bedroom instead, and releases her psychic grip on my body. I tumble backwards heels over head until I come to a stop just short of the bed. "You and your pokémon buddies will be sleeping in here tonight!" she says with a grin, "My room is right next to this one, and Melissa's is the one after that."

"You get your own room?" I ask as I sit up and brush my hair out of my face.

She nods, "Yep, and it is full of stuffed animals. Now sit down and let me fix your hair."

"What is wrong with my hair?" I frown, brushing a few remaining loose strands back behind my ear.

Chrystal rolls her eyes, "First off, it needs serious conditioner treatment, and with that much hair you can't just let it hang down like the way it is. You have to actually do something with it if you ever want to attract a mate. Otherwise you just look like a wild mightyena."

"What makes you think I am looking for a mate?" I say raising a brow and crossing my arms over my chest. "And have you seen how many mates wild mightyena get? They are rolling in chicks.""

Chrystal rolls her eyes and I find myself floating again. "One, you're a male of mating age, you will be looking for a mate. Two, I can read your mind. Three, you are human, not mightyena." She drops me onto the bed, "Now hold still so I can fix your hair up right."

I sigh and shut my eyes as my hair begins to be pulled and twisted every which way. The entire process is pulling pretty tightly on my scalp just short of being uncomfortable. A couple sharp jerks make me wince, "Hey! Be gentle! That stuff is attached to my head you know!"

"Don't be such a baby." Chrystal giggles, then her tone turns dead serious, "And you should probably stop thinking about Melissa as a potential mate."

"What makes you think I see her as a potential mate?" I growl.

"Well, maybe it's the fact that you think she has a sexy ass." Chrystal suggests, "Or maybe it's the Mew fetish-"

"It's not a fetish!" I exclaim, Chrystal just giggles, and I mutter, "It's not my fault she is always being a dirty tease."

"Riiiight." Chrystal replies, "Or how about the way you want to-"

"Okay! Fine!" I exclaim throwing my hands up in surrender, "I give! Yes! I think she is cute, hot, and, from what I've seen so far, a real great girl. Even if she does have that weird 'vegan' thing going on. But it isn't like I've met that many human girls who actually stick around."

Chrystal giggles, "No, they certainly don't, though Melissa isn't exactly human now. That and she can totally kick your ass." I chuckle, then she adds, "But she also has a boyfriend already, and a crush on some bad boy celebrity to the north. In short, there just isn't room for you."

I sigh, _ Well ain't that just peachy?_ "How do you know all that stuff about my liking her anyway?"

Chrystal laughs, "Hellooo. I'm psychic! All I did was mention your liking her, and all that stuff rose to the surface of your mind!"

My jaw drops, _You devious… just what are you doing with my hair anyway?_

"Cornrows." Chrystal replies with an evil giggle.

"What in the hell are…" I lift a hand to my head and groan, my hair has been done up in tight little braids that hug my scalp in rows all the way back to the nape of my neck. "Oh my god…"

=^3^=

Rogue tilts her head to the side and stares at me as I step back into the kitchen where a delicious looking salad, or as delicious as a bunch of leaves, diced plant matter, and mixed fruits can look, is being prepared. "What in the name of all things holy have you done to your hair?"

Melissa looks up from tossing the salad and laughs, "I see Chrystal got a hold of your hair."

"Yes." I grumble as I move to stand by the table, "And apparently cornrows are supposed to help me get a mate."

"I never said that!" Chrystal giggles floating across the room to stand behind Gin who had been watching Melissa toss the salad. "I just said that you needed to do something with your hair if you wanted to get a mate. Cornrows probably won't help, but they are more fun to make than that big, boring braid you showed up with."

Melissa laughs, "Never let Chrystal do your hair. The last time I let her do mine she gave me an afro."

I try to imagine that, but I'm not exactly sure what Melissa looked like before she became what she is now, and right now she has nothing in the way of hair. Just pink fur. So, the resulting image is her as she is now with a massive pink cotton ball looking mass of hair on her head. I chuckle, and Chrystal cackles. Melissa looks from me to Chrystal and back again. She shakes her head, "I'm not even going to ask."

Gin glances over his shoulder at Chrystal nervously as she starts playing with his head ornaments. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Chrystal giggles as she swats one of the oblong, metal pieces attached to his head and the ornaments clank against each other quietly. I look around the kitchen, there are a couple things missing.

One of which is my stuff, and the other is Gile the feraligatr. I shut my eyes and enter wave sight. The fact that his copper colored aura is burning right behind me is only a little surprising, but no less unnerving. I take slow, deep breaths and resist my kneejerk response, which is to leap to the other side of the room. Instead I take two very large steps forward and turn around before opening my eyes. "Is there any particular reason you like standing behind me like that?"

"Oh don't mind Gile." Melissa says as she starts putting the salad into smaller bowls. "He just likes spooking people."

Gile chuckles, "And after the way you reacted last time, I wasn't about to pass up a possible repeat. Unfortunately, it didn't work."

I pinch the bridge of my nose and exhale slowly, "You're a dick."

Gile just laughs, "It comes with having a pair."

I look him over and smirk, "Really now? What pair would that be?"

"_Children._" Rogue interjects before Gile can come up with a response, "Let's shut up and eat. I'd rather make it through dinner without bloodshed."

"Thank you, Rogue." Melissa says with a stern look, "I was about to suggest that very thing." Then she smiles and holds up a bowl of the salad, "Come and get it!"

=^3^=

As might have been expected, dinner was tense. Gile kept giving me the evil eye whenever Melissa wasn't looking and I gave it right back. I was kinda grumpy that he got the only meat at the table. I have to admit that the salad was really good, all sorts of sweet and bitter, and mixed with just a touch of sour, but it still wasn't meat.

After dinner, I showed Gin and Rogue to our room. "And this is where we will be sleeping."

Gin wastes no time darting forward leaping onto the bed, immediately punching a hole through the comforter, sheets, and I think the mattress itself with his chest spike. "Oops." Gin says, his voice muffled almost beyond recognition by the pillow that his head is buried in. I grin and jump up over him.

"GAAAROOOH!" I roar as I drop my shoulder down on his back forcing him even deeper into the soft cushiony bed so that he almost seems to disappear into the bed. Then the spring box does its job and we are both tossed back into the air again with limbs flailing as we flip off the bed. We hit the ground with a pair of heavy thuds. Rogue shakes her head, "Really? Can you guys go even an hour without trying to break something?"

I sit up and wheeze, "Where's the fun in that?"

"Allow me to lay some ground rules so we don't get kicked out." Rouge rolls her eyes, "Rule number one: don't break the hosts stuff. That means no indoor roughhousing, and Gin, you have to sleep on your back and keep your spikes facing up so you don't poke any more holes in the bed."

I nod. That sounds reasonable. "What's rule number two?"

"Don't get in a fight with the host." Rogue answers then gives me a pointed look, "Danny, you _will_ get along with the feraligatr."

"But-" I start to protest.

"No buts!" Rogue interrupts, "I don't know why you are so quick to be antagonistic to him, but you need to cut it out."

"Danny's scared of him." Gin offers, sitting up and scooting back to lean against the side of the bed next to me. "Big time."

You can't lie to a psychic type, and you cannot hide emotions from a lucario. Not without serious focus and training anyway. Rogue tilts her head to the side, "Don't be ridiculous, Danny is too reckless to be scared big time. He never thinks long enough to be scared."

I smile, she hit the nail on the head, I don't think long enough about consequences to worry about them. It doesn't change the fact that feraligatrs do put me on edge though. "That's what you're here for, Rogue. To put the fear of Arceus in me."

Rogue nods, "Damn right. So consider this your only warning. Find a way to put your damn macho response on hold or I will take you down. Am I understood?"

"Yes dear." I say with a sigh. I climb to my feet, "I'm gonna go find the bathroom and take a crap."

"Which brings me to rule number three." Rogue adds quickly, "All pissing and crapping will occur in the proper, designated locations. Gin, you will learn to crap and piss in the toilet and never on the floors or the ground."

"Wait, what? Why?" Gin asks in surprise.

"Because we are out of the woods now." Rogue replies tossing her mane, "It goes along with not breaking the host's stuff, and it is what you do in civilized company. And if I use the toilet, then you will too damnit."

I chuckle as I leave the room, Gin's expression is priceless. Now to find a bathroom.

=^3^=

_Hallelujah! Indoor plumbing!_ I step out of the bathroom, turn, and walk straight into a wall of muscle. I take several quick steps back then turn around and start walking the other way. "Goodnight Gile."

A clawed hand grabs my shoulder and spins me around, "Nuh-uh, I have something to say to you." he pauses and looks me in the eyes, "Don't try and get Melissa as a mate."

I roll my eyes, "What is it with you guys, and telling me hands off? Chrystal already explicitly told me I shouldn't because I have no chance. I get it, okay? I won't go after her to be my mate. It's pointless if there is no chance."

Gile shakes his head, "I'm not telling you to leave well enough alone because I think you have no chance. I'm telling you because there _is_ a chance for you to get her. I'm telling you not to because you don't look trustworthy to me. Like the kind who will hit it and run."

I raise a brow, so apparently the feraligatr thinks he knows something that the psychic type doesn't. "I'm trustworthy, loyal as a mightyena, and running has never been a part of my style."

"I know what you are. You're a criminal, and a fugitive from the law." Is his blunt response. "But should you actually succeed in getting her, let me make something perfectly clear." He leans in close to me and growls, "If you make her cry, there will be nothing left for the authorities to find. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." I reply with a strained smile as I take a couple steps back. My right hand slides instinctively to my left hip where my blade would normally be hanging, but of course it isn't there.

"Good." He turns around and starts walking back down the hall on all fours, "And you look like an idiot with your hair in cornrows like that."

I chuckle in spite of the nervous knot in my stomach, "Well at least we agree on that."

Gile laughs and I head back to my room.

=^3^=

I bolt upright in bed. Gin groans, "Damnit Danny, can't you stay asleep for more than an hour?"

I slip out from under the covers and get out of bed, "Just go back to bed, I'm going outside for a bit. Maybe the fresh air will help me sleep better."

I carefully step over Rogue who is still out cold on the floor. Her legs give a little kick as she dreams, what she is dreaming of, I don't know, but I hope it's something more pleasant than what I've been dreaming of. _Damn you Gile._ I sigh as I close the door to the room behind me, _At least they aren't the super realistic monthly ones._

I open the door to the backyard and step outside. There is a gentle breeze blowing over the lake and I take a deep breath of the cool night air. I shut the back door and start walking out into the yard, giving the lake wide berth, since that's 'Gile's pond'. Out past the pond is a large square building, and judging from the size of the air conditioning units mounted on the roof I would guess that that will probably be some sort of icy environment when the daycare is finally opened. I walk past this building to find a small beach with another large body of water. I take a deep breath, _Sea water. There is not much else in the world like the smell of the sea. Even if it is in miniature._

I take a seat on the cool sand and look at the salt water pond as the breeze sends ripples marching across the surface. I look up at the waning moon, out here among these large properties it and the stars are almost the only light. I stiffen as something sidles up to me in the dark.

"Well you are certainly moving up in the world." A familiar voice giggles behind me and I relax again. I shut my eyes and tilt my head back to smile up at the sky.

"Hi Mew." I say with a chuckle, "You nearly scared the crap out of me."

"I know!" she says sliding up my back to hug the back of my head. "You're so funny when you get spooked."

Her tail slides down my shirt and starts playing over my chest, then lifts my borrowed t-shirt, "Whose shirt is this? I know I certainly didn't make this. This isn't real cotton, and I only use the real deal."

"I think it is Melissa's father's shirt. All the shirts you made are still back in the woods, which were kind of on fire last time I was there, and I don't know how to get there from here." I reply as I make a half hearted grab at Mew's tail. In response her tail slips under my arm and starts tickling me. I laugh and roll around on the sand as she continues to tickle me with her tail. Finally I can't take it anymore and I grab her in both hands, pull her over my head, and pin her to the sand underneath me.

She purrs into my stomach, "Looks like someone is eager to get in the six-nine position this evening."

I laugh and roll off of her, "In your dreams grandma."

Mew lifts off the sand and hovers over my chest with a smile, "Nope. That spot's already filled. I already have a dream man and a man in general, so you'll just have to settle for someone else. Now that you are living with human beings again at least you'll have a decent pool of candidates."

"A decent pool huh?" I smirk and shut my eyes and sigh, "So far there appears to be only one candidate in the pool and she seems to be taken twice over. That and she's not human."

Mew drops down onto my chest and leans forward so I can feel her breath on my face, "Ohhhhh? What is she then?"

I chuckle, "You can read my mind. Why don't you just take a look inside?"

"Because that is rude and it is more fun to talk." Mew replies, poking me in the nose with a paw, "Now tellll meeeeee."

"She's… well she is kind of a mew." I say with a sheepish grin.

Mew is silent for a long moment. I open my eyes to look down at her; a speechless Mew is a rare thing. I grin at her slack-jawed expression, "Well the original was too old, so I found a younger copy of sorts."

Mew shakes her head, "No, that can't be right. My little brother is not a girl."

I raise a brow, "You have a little brother? So you had a mother?"

Mew shakes her head again, "Some crazy scientists took my DNA and combined it with a mix of human and alakazam DNA to make a super powered clone a bunch of years ago. Last I heard he was living nowhere near here."

I prop myself up on my elbows and Mew slides down my chest into my lap, "Well, you know those guys that caught Darkrai, and hurt you that day that I first met you? Well, they found a way to take a normal human being, and turn them into a pokémon human hybrid or something like that. They did that to her. So, she looks a lot like you, but human sized and humanoid." I pause. Then I grin, "She also has breasts."

"You say that like it's an improvement." Mew huffs indignantly. Then she tilts her head thoughtfully, suddenly small, plump orbs of flesh push out on her chest. She lifts off my lap and pushes her little 'breasts' up with her paws. She looks up from her new assets and gives me an incredulous look, "Really?"

This time I'm the one who is speechless. But only for a moment, and then I bust out laughing. Deep, rolling belly laughs, the kind that leaves your sides hurting.

"Well, no." I finally reply after I can speak again, "Not on you. They look great on her though."

"Bah! You can't improve on the original recipe!" Mew scoffs crossing her arms under her breasts. After a moment she shakes her little fist at me, "Boobies are not an improvement!"

I chuckle and lay back down with my arms crossed behind my head. "It's just icing on a cake Mew."

Mew giggles and lies down on my chest, "I'm sure you'd like to ice that cake."

"Yeah, I would." I admit with a smile, "But as I said, she's twice taken already and her feraligatr has threatened to eat me if I make her cry. So, I may just have to keep waiting for the right girl to show up."

Mew reaches up to pat my cheek before laying her head on my chest, "You'll find somebody. She won't be near as good as me of course, but you _will_ find somebody."

I chuckle and run my hand over Mew's back once before sighing, "Yeah. Good night Mew."

"Good night Danny." Mew replies with a yawn. "And your hair looks ridiculous."

I smile and yawn myself, "Yep. Completely… ridiculous…"


	11. Chapter 11: Improbable Improprieties

"Wake up damnit." A voice snarls before I am punched in the gut. My eyes fly open as I sit up clutching my stomach.

Teeth! Teeth everywhere!

I jerk my head back and find myself staring into a feraligatr's mouth. I swing wildly, and my fist buries itself deep in the soft flesh of the feraligatr's under jaw. The feraligatr rears back onto its hind legs for a moment then it slams back down onto all fours. I start to scoot backwards but the feraligatr grabs hold of my right leg. Before I can react I am suddenly being spun around and around. All my blood rushes to my head bringing clarity of thought and one hell of headache with it. That clarity of thought brings me to this conclusion, whatever happens next will not be fun.

The spinning stops and I find myself flying through the air. I hit the surface of the artificial ocean and skip like a stone once, twice, three times before I 'slide' to a stop and sink under the surface. I quickly kick back to the surface of the water. The feraligator glares at me, "It's time for breakfast."

I tread water staring at the brute in confusion. Breakfast? As in other than me? I'm not about to get eaten? Then the events of yesterday rush back to me. I grumble as I swim back to the shore. Goddamn fricking feraligatrs.

I strip off my clothes and wring them out before I walk around the ice habitat and start putting them back on. By the time I reach the back door I am a little drier but still in a sour mood. I push the door open and my mood gets worse when I realize that once again, Gile is the only one with meat. The rest of us get to have a vegan breakfast of apple sauce and assorted buneary foods. I plop down in one of the chairs and scowl at the bowl of apple sauce in the center of the table. I want bacon damnit.

Gin and Rouge are already seated at the table along with Crystal and Melissa. They all look at me. I look right back at them in silence before reaching across the table to grab the bowl of apple sauce.

"What the hell do you have against vegetables?" Crystal asks as she munches on a carrot.

"Absolutely nothing." I grumble as I mix some berries into my small bowl of apple sauce. "It is the lack of meat that I find offensive."

"Tauros shit." Rouge retorts, "There have been plenty of days where we didn't have meat for breakfast, and you weren't nearly this grouchy. I think it has more to do with the fact that you are wet."

Gile chuckles and Melissa frowns, "What did you do? Sleep in the water?"

I raise a brow, "Your feraligatr tossed me in the mini ocean."

Melissa looks at Gile in surprise, "What?"

Gile points a finger at me, "The moment he woke up he punched me in the throat!"

I roll my eyes, "I woke to a punch in the gut and my head in your mouth. What did you think I was going to do? Kiss you?"

Gile shrugs, "It's your fault for not waking up when I just shook you."

"He would have probably punched you anyway." Crystal says dismissively around a mouthful of berries as she watches a fleet of celery sticks and berries 'sail' across a sea of apple sauce on her plate. "He doesn't like you."

Melissa sighs and rubs her face as she stands up with her dirty dishes, "Okay, Gile, don't ever wake Danny up again, have Chrystal or one of Danny's friends do it. I've got a busy day ahead of me, and I don't want to worry about you and Danny bringing the house down while I'm out. I already have enough worries as is."

Rogue looks up at Melissa in surprise. "What?"

Melissa sets her dishes in the dishwasher and turns back to the rest of us. "I need to talk to my boyfriend, tell the cops that I was abducted by a secret organization and turned into… whatever the hell I am now, and buy new outfits because more than half of my normal outfits can't accommodate my tail." She kicks the dishwasher door shut with her heel and starts out of the kitchen.

"Nuh-uh." "Not happening." Rogue and Gile reply simultaneously.

Melissa stops and turns to look at the rest of us with her hands on her hips, "And why the hell not?"

"You are a pokémon now." Gile says scratching his cheek, "And technically a wild pokémon. Any wiseass with a pokéball could try and capture you, and quite possibly succeed since you don't have a lot of experience battling on the frontlines so to speak."

"Danny has to go with you." Rogue says matter-of-factly. "If it looks like you have a trainer, then the worst that can happen is what happened yesterday where somebody challenges you to a battle, which Danny would most likely do the fighting for. That is if he doesn't punch the challenger out first for calling him a trainer." She gives me a look, bad things will happen if I punch somebody out today, "No pokémon moves, at least not the flashy kind. You'll draw enough attention for taking down a pokémon in single combat, we don't need to broadcast the fact that you are Danny of the Runaways

Gile looks at Rogue approvingly. Melissa however is less than pleased with the idea. "I'm going to see my _boyfriend_. I can't take _him_ of all people with me, and I sure as hell can't take him to talk to the police."

Gile shakes his head, "As much as I dislike the bastard, I love you a whole lot more. As for the police, if that criminal organization is competent enough to have the technology to take a normal human being and turn them into a pokémon, then the people running it probably have the foresight to have back up plans for dealing with escaped test subjects and the police. Chances are they are no longer on the island anymore." The feraligatr chuckles, "Hell, the _island_ may not be there anymore."

"Plus," Crystal pipes up, "If they send some sort of assassin after you two it would be best to have someone who has dealt with them before, like Mr. Dannie-o!"

Melissa's eyes widen at that thought and I can feel the blood drain from my face. Sure, I can face down any human, and most pokémon, in combat but with the kind of weapons that these helix people use the 'battle' could be over before I even know they are there. After what happened on the island, I don't think there is much question about whether or not they will want to get rid of anyone that might be a threat to them. I rub my face, I'm going to have to really be on guard now, and I really need my blade back.

"Your sword is in the laundry room in a gym bag." Chrystal says as she bites down on her celery stick, "You should probably keep it in the bag while walking around though. Most people don't walk around with swords strapped to their waists, at least not around here."

I stare at the gardevoir. How in the hell does someone so random and quirky have so much common sense? She just grins at me and I chuckle, "Okay, I can live with that."

"You might want to change clothes too." Gile says with a smirk. I fight back the urge to flick him off or give some sort of smart ass retort. The 'serious business' look that Rogue is giving me right now helps. Instead, I shovel the breakfast into my mouth. As much as I hate to admit it, it tastes really good.

Melissa gives me a smug grin before she leaves the kitchen and I'm left wondering just how open my mind is to hers.

Twenty minutes later, I'm wearing slacks and a button up shirt for the first time in eight years. The last time was… a time I'd rather not think about actually. I sling the gym bag over my shoulder and adjust the collar of Melissa's father's shirt. "Is there any particular reason I'm dressed like I'm headed to church?"

Melissa smiles at me as she pushes open the front door. "Well, I figured the cops would be looking for the wild boy in pokémon skins and not the smartly dressed young man with cornrows."

I sigh, "Makes sense. So where first?"

~0~

I have nothing against new clothes. In fact, I love getting new clothes. Always have, especially once Mew started making them. It can be pretty fun, even if I don't necessarily like what I get. For instance, one summer all Mew made for me was kilts. _That_ was an interesting experience, especially since I actually had a girlfriend at the time.

_Buying_ new clothes, however, is torture. I hate shopping for clothes. The last time I had to go shopping for clothes was when I was nine. It was all 'try this one for mommy' or 'how would you look in this?'. I felt like a damn dress up doll as I got dragged from one clothing store to the next. At least this time I'm not the one trying on clothes.

"Hey Danny, how do you think this looks?"

I turn around and look Melissa's latest outfit option over. It was a white button up blouse and a short green skirt that came halfway down her thighs. I shrug, "To be honest, I'm still trying to figure out why you think my opinion on clothing, especially women's clothing, is worth a rattatta's hind parts. No one I associated with wore _anything_." I notice Melissa's tail starting to lift her skirt up in the back and quickly add, "However, if decency is important at all I would recommend a longer skirt, because your tail is…"

Melissa's ears flatten against her head and she vanishes again into the changing stall with a very quiet profanity. I sigh and return to leaning against the wall. This same general exchange has been going on all morning with a few variations, like when she accidentally levitated while trying to show me a sundress and ended up showing way more than she intended. Namely, the fact that she has no undies on. Out of courtesy, and a sense of self-preservation, I refrained from dwelling on that topic too long.

Melissa steps back out of the changing stall with a bag of clothing that apparently passed the decency and comfort tests, as well as my own approval. "One more stop, then we can move on to Richard's house."

"I rejoice from the depths of my soul." I mutter under my breath as I step away from the wall

Her tail lashes out and whips my backside with a loud crack. I yelp and leap up holding my hands over my injured derrière. "What the hell was that for?"

"I'm not exactly happy with this arrangement either you know. I don't like being babysat like a toddler. I can take care of myself just fine on my own."

I glance downwards at Melissa's feet as she starts to rise up off the ground. I grab her by the shoulders and push her back down again. _You can't even control the simplest of your powers and you think you can hold your own in a fight?_

"That's not my fault!" Melissa exclaims with a huff.

I chuckle a little as we continue walking out of the clothing store into the commons area of the mall. "You just proved my point."

"How?"

"You read my mind."

"No I didn't!"

_Do you know how to give a blow job?_ I lean back out of the way as Melissa whirls around and throws a wild punch at my face. I give her a small smile, "What? I didn't say anything. I only thought it."

Melissa glares at me and I fight to keep from wincing as my head gets put in a psychic vise, "Pervert."

I sigh, "I only thought it to see if you were listening to my thoughts. I really don't care whether you can give a blow job or not, and I wouldn't dare ask because of the fact that it would result in pain for me, like the vice grip you have on my head right now, and it is rude. You are currently courting with someone else; I have no right to even consider the possibility." I pause and chuckle, "Never mind that Gile would probably eat me."

"He would." Melissa laughs, and then gives me an odd look. "Really?"

I frown, "Really what?"

"You really wouldn't try and seduce a girl away from her boyfriend?"

I roll my eyes, "No, I wouldn't. Courtship is a sacred process, to me at least. It is not a tool for getting something either."

"What do you mean by 'tool'?"

"Well, as a means to an end. To get sex for instance. If sex happens, then it happens, but it shouldn't be the sole purpose of dating or courting. Another example would be courting one person to make another jealous. That is just dirty. The purpose of courting is to discover the other individual and for them to discover you. If you like what you discover, pursue them as a mate. If not, don't." I shrug. Melissa just stares at me. "What?"

"That's kinda what my dad told me."

"Is that a problem?"

"No, it's just kind of weird, since you were raised by pokémon. There are a lot of polygamous and non-pairing pokémon so I don't know where you would have picked that up."

I laugh, "I wasn't raised by pokémon! What gave you that idea?"

"Well, you can talk to pokémon and you consider pokémon to be your family. Plus you have pokémon powers." Melissa points out. "Everybody thinks you were raised by pokémon."

I roll my eyes, "I was raised by humans. My dad was a pokémon researcher living in a chain of islands far to the south of here. My mother was one of the most wonderful people I have ever known. I ran away from home when I was ten. When we met for the first time I had only been living out there for just under a week."

"Why did you do that?"

"Well, Rouge and I kind of… we did something that would have been unforgivable to my step-mom." I say with an awkward chuckle, that certainly isn't one of my proudest accomplishments. It's not the one I'm least proud of either. "So we took off. I never looked back."

Melissa watches me closely for a bit. It's obvious she is thinking really hard about something. I raise a brow, "You're trying to dig in my head aren't you?"

"A little." She turns and starts walking towards a store. When I see which store it is I stop dead in my tracks. "No way. Not happening."

"Oh for Creselia's sake! Don't be such a baby!"

"No. I am not going in Victoria's Secret with you."

Melissa rolls her eyes, "What are you? Twelve?"

"No, but I've already gotten all sorts of weird looks from people because I am being dragged around buying clothes for a pokémon!" I exclaim, "If I go in there with you people are gonna start thinking I'm a pokephiliac!"

Melissa laughs, "That's a pretty big word for someone who lived in the woods for nearly half their life."

"It came up at home before I left." I say shaking my head, "It's a long story."

"Well answer me this, did you ever court a pokémon? Remember I can tell if you lie."

I can feel my face heating up a bit, "Yes."

"Then why would accusations of… 'pokephilia' bother you?"

"…I don't like having people looking at me funny."

"It's not like you have to help me change."

"I'm still not going in there."

"Fine, stay out here with the bags." Melissa says rolling her eyes and shoving the bags she was holding at me.

She turns to walk into the lingerie store then pauses, "Out of curiosity, what kind of pokémon was she?"

I chuckle, "A Kirlia. Now go get your damn panties."

Melissa shakes her head and walks into the store while I sit down on a bench outside and watch people go by. Not three seconds later a little girl with a pichu sits down on the bench next to me. I glance at her for a moment then return to watching people go by. The bench shakes a little and I glance back over at the girl to find that she is now standing on the bench and looking down at me. I chuckle, "Can I help you?"

She nods and holds out her pichu, "Make her talk. I want her to be able to talk like that tall, pink pokémon of yours."

I take the pichu, who quickly crawls up my arm to perch on my head. I look back to the girl, "I can't make her talk, and she wasn't my pokémon. She's more of a friend, and she knew how to talk already when I met her."

"Awww, I wanted to be able to talk." The pichu says sadly.

"You can talk." I say picking the pichu up off my head, "Your friend just can't understand you." Both the girl and the pichu's eyes go wide. I grin, "But _I_ can."

~0~

(POV shift warning 3rd person following Rogue)

"Sooooo, what do you do all day?" Rogue asks Gile who is sitting on the couch.

"Depends. Used to be Melissa traveled all over the place and we would go with her. it was a lot of fun and I wish she would go traveling again." Gile says as he picks up the TV remote and turns on the TV, "These days I mostly watch the news and try to avoid being the center of Chrystal's attention."

Rogue climbs up on the couch and sits next to Gile, "Why avoid Chrystal?" Suddenly Gin sprints through the room at full speed. Rogue tilts her head to the side, "What the hell?"

"NO! STAY AWAY!" Gin shouts from the other room before sprinting back through the living room again, followed closely by a cackling Chrystal carrying several long strands of shiny material.

"That's why." Gile says with a smirk.

"Was that… tinsel?"

"Probably."

"What is she…"

"You never can know for sure with that girl. Best to let her run herself out." Gile pauses to flip over to the news channel, "Kind of like a cold."

"That's not very nice."

"But accurate."

Gin appears in front of them again, whispering, "Please you have to hide me!"

"OOOH GIIIIIN…" Crystal's voice rings out from upstairs, "WHERE ARE YOU, MY LITTLE PUPPY-POO?"

Gile snorts, "I recommend surrendering."

Gin shakes his head and darts forward on hands and knees to crawl under the couch. He lifts the dust ruffle and screams.

"I FOUND YOU!" Chrystal shouts gleefully as she lunges out from under the couch and tackles Gin.

Gile turns the TV off, having found something much more interesting to watch. "This oughta be good."

"NOOOOOOOooooooo….."

~0~

(following Melissa)

Thongs. They were the only thing that fit even somewhat comfortably under her tail, well there were other things, but they were even skankier. Melissa sighs as she turns to look at her butt in the mirror. It was a lot bigger. "Stupid Mew hips. At least my upper bits didn't change much."

Turning back around again to face the mirror Melissa takes in her new body. She was a giant Mew, with tits. A fetish made flesh.

What was Richard going to think? What if her changes disgusted him? What if they turned him on? She couldn't decide which was worse. The only thing she was sure of when it came to looks was that Danny was interested, which made his desire not to interfere in her current relationship that much more of an attractive quality.

Melissa changed back into her clothes and picked up her bags. She paused, quite a crowd had gathered outside the store. "Oh no."

~0~

(and back to Danny 1st person)

"Listen, uh, Shinji was it? You and your gastrodon have a lot of things you need to work out together in private. I'm a translator, not a marriage counselor." I say with a chuckle as I hand the slimy pokémon back to her partner. I wipe my hands on my slacks to get the slime off, "I also recommend investing in a tarp."

"DANNY!" Oh crap.

I turn to find Melissa shoving her way to the front of the line. I smile "Time to go? Great I'll get our bags."

I bend over to pick up some of the bags and then yelp as Melissa grabs hold of my hair and starts dragging me back through the crowd. "OwowowowowowowowowowOW!"

Melissa releases my hair and grabs me by the ear instead. She pulls me close to her face before hissing, "What are you thinking? You were supposed to keep a low profile!"

"I was?" I thought I was supposed to be her bodyguard and, if worst came to worst, her meat shield.

"The first rule for not being found is to keep a low profile!"

"Oh that. I kinda figured that walking around with a five and a half foot tall mew made that a lost cause."

I let out a small 'Eep' as Melissa drives her knee into my groin. She lets go of my ear and I fall to my knees as I reflexively curl around my wounded pride. Why is it always the nuts? Why can't I just be slapped when I make a smart-assed remark?

I look up at Melissa who sighs and shakes her head, "I'll get the bags while you recover."

~0~

So, after a brief recovery period and a long, and mostly awkward, walk, we find ourselves in front of a house in a picture perfect neighborhood. You know, the kind with them white picket fences. I follow Melissa up the front walk knowing full well that this entire visit is going to be awkward as hell.

I mean seriously, the poor bastard is getting told that his girlfriend has been turned into a pokémon hybrid thing. On top of that, some strange guy is with her and staying at her house. I don't want to be here, and from the vibes she is putting off, it is clear that Melissa doesn't want me here either. That and I'm carrying bags full of women's clothing, including lingerie. I really don't think it could get much more awkward.

Melissa rings the doorbell and waits. A few moments later a blaziken opens the door. Oh damn, it's a female and by Arceus would you look at the size of her - !

SLAPSLAPSLAPSLAP!

I'm nearly thrown sideways by the sudden barrage of slaps. I'm pretty sure that was the actual pokémon move double slap, because that fricking hurt! "What the hell, Melissa!"

Melissa glares at me, "You were staring at her tits!"

"I was not!" I exclaim indignantly, "Blaziken don't have breasts!"

"Are you kidding?" Melissa explains, gesturing to the blaziken, "Look at the size of those things!"

I roll my eyes, she just slapped the hell out of me for staring there and she expects me to look again? "They aren't breasts though. They are _crests_. Raised areas of thick plumage."

"What?"

"Blaziken have a pair of crests on their chest that resemble human breasts in shape and size." I reply with a sigh, "They serve no use in the reproductive process unlike the mammaries found on most mammalian, human shaped pokémon. They are, however, erogenous zones and can be raised or fluffed up as a sign of arousal or just being 'in season'. So when it comes to etiquette they are treated the same as human breasts. No touching and keep glances discreet."

Melissa and the blaziken both stare at me for a very long moment before Melissa finally asks, "How the hell do you know that?"

I grimace, "You remember that long story I mentioned earlier? I lied. It's actually a very short story. Basically, when my dad decided to give me the talk about the pidgeys and the combees, when I was at the ripe old age of seven, he went in depth. Multiple species were covered and full color visual aids were used. He also covered how cross species breeding works. The whole thing is kind of permanently burned into my brain."

"That's messed up."

"Yes it is." The blaziken agrees, "But it is also completely unrelated to why I should let you inside."

"You should let us inside because I am Richard's girlfriend, Melissa Cohen." Melissa replies.

The blaziken stares at her for a few moments then her eyes narrow. Then the corners of her eyes lift in a smile. She takes a step back and sweeps her other arm overdramatically as she says, "Oh, in that case you and your new trainer can come right in. I'll go get Richard."

"He's not my trainer." Melissa replies flatly and I keep my face straight. This blaziken intrigues me.

We step into the hall, the floor is carpet and the walls are adorned with a variety of landscape paintings. Not as pretty as Melissa's place, but still nice. The blaziken leaves us there as she goes to get Richard. Melissa turns to me, "I don't want you to be a part of this conversation, okay?"

I shrug, "Fine by me, I was probably going to strike up a conversation with the blaziken anyway. What's her name?"

"Toni." Melissa says with a nod. I sense a slight shift in her mood as she says the blaziken's name, part frustration and part something else mixed so thoroughly with a bunch of other brief emotions that it is indecipherable. She then points off to the side where there is a sort of activity room with rubber flooring and workout equipment. "You can wait in there."

"Fine." I chuckle as I step out of the hall and drop the bags in a corner, just as the blaziken returns with a red headed young man.

"Hi Richard." Melissa says quietly. Richard jumps a little, probably a little surprised at being spoken to by a pokémon. "It's me Melissa."

You can almost hear the gears grinding in Richard's head. I can't help it, I laugh. Richard turns to look at me, "Who are you?"

"Danny." I say with a smile.

Richard's face darkens, "What are you doing here?"

I gesture to Melissa, "Escort service, as per request."

"Gile wouldn't let me leave the house without him." Melissa explains. "I came by to let you know exactly what happened to cause…" She gestures to herself, "_This_."

"Come into the kitchen. Where we can talk in private." Richard says, "You two stay out here."

I nod, but I can feel Toni's shift in demeanor, it's like when you turn up a gas stove and the pilot light flares to a full flame. It's a pretty impressive display of her power actually, and self control. In spite of the flare in emotions, I can't make out any change in body language; her feathers barely puff up at all as she nods in acknowledgement. I only saw it because I was looking for it. She steps into the workout room, glancing briefly over the bags before moving to sit on the weight bench.

"Sooo, what's Richard like? He a good guy?" I ask.

Toni rolls her eyes before nodding and dropping off the bench into the push up position. I smile and drop down myself sort of across from her as she starts doing pushups. "How's he treat you?" I ask as I start doing pushups as well.

Toni gives me an approximation of a thumbs up, but doesn't put her hand back down and continues doing one handed pushups. I grin and switch to one handed pushups as well, "Do you train with him frequently?"

Toni eyes me for a second then gives me a so-so gesture before throwing herself forward into a handstand and begins doing pushups that way. She looks back to me with a smirk in her eyes. I just smile back sweetly before doing the same. After a brief wobble I turn my head to look at Toni again, "Did he used to?"

Toni's eyes narrow and she carefully shifts her balance to one hand. _Impressive. _She pushes out a couple one handers before she nods. I take a deep breath; usually Gin gives out by this point, but I match her again. "Let me… guess. Melissa Cohen."

I don't even need to see her nod, the spike in her aura is more than enough answer. Toni switches hands and so do I, but then she does something I did not see coming. She rocks up onto her talon tips. _You gotta be shitting me._ She actually pushes out a couple before she looks at me with a huge shit-eating grin (basically her beak is open a little and her eyes are smiling big time).

I switch to two hands, "Give me a moment… to figure this out."

With a big push I lift myself up onto my fingertips, and then shift to one hand. I can feel little beads of sweat breaking out across my forehead as I focus my aura into those four fingers, reinforcing them as best as I can. I lower myself slowly, my entire body shaking with the effort. I grunt as I lift back up. At the top I glance at Toni, she just smiles and gestures for me to continue. I begin my second trip down, then curse as my arm gives out and I crash down face first onto the rubber flooring. "Ow." I mutter with my nose mashed into the floor. "You win."

Toni lets out a loud whoosh of breath as she collapses next to me. I lift my head to watch her sprawled next to me, gasping for breath. I smile, "You have a really good poker face."

"Thanks." She wheezes with a little smile, "You're stronger than you look."

"You're welcome." I prop myself up on my elbows, "One last question. You want him for your own, in bed with you, don't you?"

Toni's reaction is a mixture of surprise, which is expected since it is a rather rude question to ask a female you just met, and a lot of embarrassment. That last bit makes me feel pretty sure I nailed it on the head. Suddenly Toni darts forward and yanks me forward by the collar. _Right, embarrassment often turns to anger._

"How did you know that? I swear, if you breathe a word about that to _anyone_, I will… why are you smiling?"

"I didn't know. Not until you admitted it was true just now." I say with a huge grin, "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Toni. Not an hour ago I had a gastrodon telling me all sorts of naughty things she does with her trainer and things she wished he would do to her."

Toni stares at me in shock, before frowning, "Yeahbuhwut?"

"Yeah, I can understand pokémon."

"Yeah, but–"

"That's bullshit!" Melissa's voice interrupts from the kitchen.

Toni and look at each other for a split second before we both leap to our feet and sprint for the kitchen. When we get there we find Melissa glaring across the table at Richard. "That is some serious bullshit Richard, and you know it." Melissa says.

Richard glances over at me and Toni before laughing nervously, "How is my not wanting to continue in a relationship with a pokémon bullshit? It sounds like a perfectly reasonable justification to me?"

"It's bullshit because I have caught you ogling other people's pokémon before. Gardevoirs, lopunnies, medichams, among others." Melissa almost spits out.

"What, I can't appreciate a well trained pokémon? It wasn't anything sexual."

"What about those picture's of Toni in compromising positions on your phone?" Melissa asks leaning across the table. "The ones of her bending to pick things up and the ones taken under the table of her crotch? Are you gonna say those weren't sexual either?"

Next to me Toni feathers are as puffed out as a startled glameow's fur.

"I-I don't kn-know what you are talking about." Richard stammers, his bright red face betraying him. I roll my eyes and walk back to the workout room. Richard shouts after me, "Don't you roll your eyes at me! Get back here!"

I pick up the gym bag with my blade in it and walk back to the kitchen. I unzip the bag, "Melissa's right. Your reasoning is bullshit." I shrug as I reach into the bag, "But it doesn't change your decision." I thump the sheathed blade onto the kitchen table and start to unbutton my shirt.

"Danny? What are you doing?" Melissa asks me worriedly.

"I'm challenging Richard to a pokémon battle. Single combat, no items." I say as I slip out of the shirt and hand it to Melissa. "I'm betting my sword against your money that I'll win. Are those terms acceptable?"

Richard nods, frowning as I unbutton my pants, "Why are you taking off your clothes though?"

"Because I'm the one doing the fighting and these aren't my clothes." I reply with a grimace, "Trust me, if they were my clothes I would definitely keep them on."

Toni snickers behind me and I fight the urge to check what underwear I have on. If I wasn't sure I was wearing white briefs I would have kept the pants on, even if they aren't mine. I'm not going through that again if I can help it.

A couple minutes later we are all in the backyard and I'm looking across a large circle of hard packed dirt at Toni. I step into the circle and give her a thumbs up, "Don't hold back Toni."

Richard shakes his head, "This is ridiculous, just get it over with Toni. Quick attack."

I easily sidestep Toni's quick attack and slap her lightly across the face before hopping away. Toni holds a talon to her face, staring at me in surprise. I just smile, "Fight me Toni."

"What the hell was that Toni! Just hit the naked idiot!" Richard shouts. Toni dashes at me again, using quick attack, and this time throwing a punch at my face when I sidestep. I lean out of the way and slap her again, harder this time. I skip back away from her quickly, "You're not taking me seriously, Toni! You'd best start fighting for real."

"Stop dancing damnit!" Toni doesn't wait for Richard this time, using quick attack again. Using extreme speed I slip behind her even as she starts to throw a punch at where I was a split second ago. I slip my arms under hers and bury my hands in the thick plumage of her crests.

"I warned you." I whisper in her ear as the world seems to stop. Then everything returns to speed and I leap back a good fifteen feet away from Toni. Judging from the spikes in aura, I have successfully managed to piss off EVERYBODY, and made both Richard and Melissa jealous. Wait, _Melissa_ is jealous? My surprise at that little fact distracts me enough that I don't have time to throw up a protect field to ward off Toni's enraged flamethrower attack. I dive forward, hitting the deck and rolling as fast as I can out of the stream of fire.

I'm pretty sure I'm at least a little on fire, but there isn't time to deal with that as Toni's talons crash into the dirt next to my face. I spring away from her, still on all fours, flipping backwards almost immediately to avoid a hammering double fisted strike that craters the ground and throws up chunks of earth. I land in a crouch and lunge forward, just barely managing to twist over a spinning kick that probably would have launched me into the next yard if it had connected. I leap straight up and over Toni as she executes a powerful blaze attack. I fire off an aura sphere at her back, and she stumbles forward onto all fours. However, even before I land she is already back on her feet and charging me again, but it is my turn now.

I deflect toni's fire punch, using the force of her blow to launch me into a spin leading into a doubly powerful force palm up under her jaw. Toni lifts off the ground and I press my momentary advantage, slamming my other hand into her gut and firing a water pulse point blank. The force of the water launches Toni like a missile, and she tumbles head over heels into the grass. I leap high into the air before Toni can recover enough to pinpoint my location.

"UP!" Richard shouts and the aura spheres I have already loosed burst against a huge billowing column of flame rising up to meet me. I throw up a protect field, simultaneously preparing a small focus blast. The flames wash over my shield like waves crashing against a stone. The sheer fury of the attack sends cracks spider webbing through the shield. Rather than reinforcing it I allow the protect to shatter. The countless green shards of protective energy vanish in the last of the fire blast attack. I unleash my focus blast as a blue beam that strikes a shocked Toni in the chest. The blaziken rockets backwards, tearing up sod as she plows the ground. I land lightly in a crouched three point landing.

My chest is heaving as I slowly rise to my feet and watch Toni carefully. Richard has already darted over to where she is still laying in the dirt. Melissa stares at me slack jawed. I glance at Melissa, "What?" Melissa just shakes her head and I turn back to Richard, "Is she okay?"

He nods then looks up at me, "But she's out cold."

"That's good." I reply before falling flat on my face. That focus blast protect combo took a lot out of me, I doubt I could have mustered a repeat. The resulting fight would have been a lot more difficult and drawn out. I might even have lost. The wind blows softly over me and I feel an unexpected chill. I turn my head to look in Melissa's direction and her feet fill my field of view. They're kind of cute looking, if that makes any sense at all.

"Um, Danny…"

"Let me guess, my underwear is half burnt away isn't it."

"Yep." Melissa replies before she lifts one of her cute feet and slams it down on the back of my hand. All thoughts of how cute her feet are vanish instantly beneath the pain of her grinding the balls of her feet down on my hand.

"OWOWOWOWOWOW!" I yelp, yanking my hand out from under her paw. I sit up, holding my injured hand protectively against my chest. I open my mouth to ask what that was for, and then I remember what just happened. I just groped the blaziken. "Okay, I deserved that."

"Yes, you did." Melissa says flatly, "You're also lucky not to be dead. Toni is one of the strongest pokémon I've met, she can usually beat Gile even with the type advantage he has."

"If it weren't for that psychotic gardevoir, I could beat you single handedly." Toni says as she sits up and starts tenderly wiping off dirt.

I stare at Toni, "Crystal?"

Melissa nods, "Yeah, Crystal is actually my most powerful pokémon."

"Not you're gyrados?" I ask in surprise, "I mean she was destroying a fricking town just because she was all sobby and panicky!"

"No, Rio is actually the weakest of the three. That's why I was out at the island with her. For high intensity training."

"Crystal fights kind of like you do too." Toni continues, "She likes toying with her opponent."

"I wasn't toying with you." I chuckle, "I wasn't going to really fight you until you actually started taking me seriously. I really am sorry for groping you like that. It was the only way I could think of to really tick you off on the fly."

Toni peers at me for a long moment then looks at Melissa, "Is he telling the truth?"

"Surprisingly, yes." Melissa replies, her own surprise clearly evident in her voice.

"Why the hell is that surprising?" I ask, unable to keep the annoyed edge out of my voice, "She is completely not my type! I mean she's a fighting type _and_ a fire type!" I pause before muttering, "She's also got feathers."

"*cough-cough* pervert *cough*" Melissa wipes her mouth on the back of her hand, "Sorry, just had some dust fly down my throat."

_It's a relevant factor! Feathers would get in the way of things! And right now I don't know anything about her personally so that is all that matters in this case!_ I think very pointedly at Melissa.

_My statement still stands._ is her mental reply. I raise an eyebrow at her, telepathy is a nice improvement.

"What's wrong with being a fighting type?" Toni asks indignantly as she climbs to her feet with Richard's help.

"Do you have any idea just how pushy wild fighting types are?"I ask as I climb to my own feet, "I've had to fight not to get raped by a hitmonchan who decided she liked me. And an accidental flamethrower to the face is not my first choice of a way to end an evening. Don't laugh, I've seen it happen first hand. It's why fire types rarely do it missionary style."

"Oh for Cresselia's sake!" Melissa groans.

"I lived in the fucking woods!" I exclaim waving my arms, "They did it whenever and wherever they felt like it!"

Richard shakes his head, "It doesn't change the fact that you clearly can't be human."

"I couldn't even lay a finger on you." Toni growls.

I laugh and turn to reveal my exposed and lightly singed derriere. "Does this look like not laying a finger on me? Never mind the fact that you broke through my protect with one attack! You have to be the most powerful individual I have gone up against yet!"

Toni scratches her chin with a smug expression, "Really?"

"Definitely." I reply with a nod as I start dusting myself off and head indoors. "Any stronger and you might have beat me. I'd love for you to train with my brother and me some time."

"You have a brother? Is he as strong as you?"

"About as strong as me, yes, and he can take a helluva lot more punishment than I can, being a lucario and all."

"So you are part lucario?" Richard asks as the others follow me inside.

I shrug as I slip back into my pants and start getting redressed. Damn, it feels really weird wearing only half a pair of underwear. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm a pokémon. I'm not sure what kind exactly; maybe I have a lucario granddaddy somewhere up in my family tree through some freak miracle of cross-species conception."

I finish buttoning up my shirt and put my sword back in the gym bag, which reminds me, "Time to pay up Richard."

Richard gives me a surprised look, "What?"

"My winnings, your money." I hold out my hand, "Or at least a large portion of it. This sword is pretty much all I have to my name and a damn good weapon to boot. So the equivalent would be at least four thousand dollars."

"Four thous- are you insane?"

"Listen, I had to kill a psychotic, super-powered serial killer and his lucario lover to get this sword, and it has saved my life more times than I can count." I say darkly, stepping up to Richard so my face is inches from his own, "My putting it on the table as my wager in this match is akin to you betting your arms on this fight. If you don't think that your own limbs are worth four thousand dollars I can always take those instead."

Apparently my evil-sonova-bitch act is plenty convincing because I can sense the fear rolling off of Richard. It's kind of sick, but it feels really refreshing. Like a cool breeze on a blistering hot day.

"O-okay. Four thousand dollars sounds perfectly acceptable when you put it that way." Richard stammers as he takes a couple steps back to stand next to Toni.

I grin goofily, "Great! You'll have to make it cash though."

Richard nods and disappears, hopefully to get the money and not call the cops. I turn to Melissa, "Could you go make sure he's getting the money?"

Melissa nods and disappears after Richard leaving me and Toni alone in the kitchen. Toni gives me an odd look, "Would you have seriously cut off his arms?"

"Absolutely not." I say taking a seat at the table, "I might have gotten rough with him, but nothing more than a bit of shaking or a few light slaps. I'm not a monster."

Toni takes a seat across from me and leans on the table, "Good, because if you had gone to take that knife out I would have roasted you like a roast pidgeotto on Thanksgiving."

"Of course." I reply with a nod and we sit there for a moment in silence.

"So what is your type?"

I give her a sideways glance, "Hmm? Like girl in general? Or pokémon type?"

"Pokémon."

"Oh. Psychic. They are usually more ladylike or at least not 'rape happy'." I chuckle, "I don't know what the hell Crystal's deal is. I've never met anyone like her."

"So you'd rather do it with an alakazam over me?"

"Yes."

"Even with those crazy mustaches?"

I blink, I forgot about the mustache. "Okay, maybe not. The mustache would definitely put me off." I laugh, trying to picture kissing an alakazam, "Okay, only if she got rid of the mustache. Same for a kadabra." I turn to face Toni, "Why would you care? Richard is available and interested."

"Just keeping my options open, in case I can't reel Richard in." Toni says with a smirk, "I could show you how 'ladylike' a well trained fighting type can be. It's not often that a human, or a mostly human individual, will openly admit to being willing to become mated with a pokémon."

I chuckle and scratch my head sheepishly, "Yeah, I'm kinda weird that way."

"You also have a cute butt."

"Excuse me?" Melissa asks testily from the door to the kitchen.

I let my face drop to the table, its color becoming similar to that of a cheri berry. "She was talking about me, not you."

"I know that."

"You have a problem with my saying your escort has a cute butt?" Toni asks innocently, then adds, "don'tyou think he has a cute butt."

Melissa giggles and I can hear my humiliation in that laughter, "You should have seen him yesterday when he had to walk through town with nothing but his boxers on. And guess what was on those boxers. Pink. Cartoony. Mews."

Toni looks at me, my deepening blush pretty much confirming the truth of Melissa's statement. She snorts, "Those are some manly boxers right there."

"It's not my fault!" I groan, "Mew won't make me any other kind."

"Please. Mew is just a legend." Toni retorts rolling her eyes.

I look from Toni to Melissa and back again. "Really? Some crazy scientists took a normal human being and turned her into a GIANT MEW. Mew is no myth. She's a dirty tease, and a damn good seamstress."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to say that mew is probably real." Melissa comments dryly, "Seeing as I am now her only relative."

"Actually, she has a younger brother. Oddly enough, he is also the result of scientists playing with her DNA." I add quickly.

Richard slaps a very thick stack of cash onto the table. "There's your money. Now quit talking about Mew and get out of my fucking kitchen."

I stand up quickly and shove the cash into the gym bag with the blade. Toni stands up as well and I hold out my hand to her. she takes my hand, "Good luck with whatever you intend to do."

I nod and grin, "And good luck with what we both know you are going to do."

"Would you just take your goddamn money and leave?" Richard exclaims and starts pushing Melissa. I'm about to warn him about Melissa not having full control over her powers when suddenly he rockets backwards and slams into the wall. I grab Melissa's hand and lead her out of the room as I shout an apology over my shoulder. When we reach the hall I grab up most of the bags while Melissa grabs the others and then we leave.

After we get a ways up the street from Richard's house I laugh, "Say, what is Richard's last name?"

"King. Why?"

"I guess that would mean he lived up to his name."

"Huh?"

"He was a royal dick!" I laugh.

"If my hands weren't full right now I would hit you. That's a horrible pun."

~0~

We step through the front door of Melissa's house and I call out, "We're back!"

"HELP!" is the immediate reply.

I hurry into the living room and what I see stops me in my tracks. Gin is hogtied with gold tinsel and hanging from a slowly turning ceiling fan. Sprigs of mistletoe are tied to his head ornaments in large number, making a sort of crown. His fur is covered in red lip prints, especially around his face.

Melissa giggles behind me, "Looks like Crystal has taken a liking to you."

"She's crazy!" Gin exclaims, "Absolutely bonkers!"

I smirk as start looking for a way to get Gin down, "You sound like you are offended over being kissed."

"It's not the kissing that offends me. It's that she is leaving me up here while she eats lunch!"

"I brought your lunch!" Crystal exclaims as she suddenly teleports into the room holding a large bowl of an opaque, green liquid. She starts walking around in a circle following Gin as the fan turns him around. Holding the bowl up to his face, she says, "Enjoy!"

"What the hell is this crap?"

"Cream of broccoli, and I made it special just for you. So you'd better eat it or I'll turn the fan up to full again."

Gin looks at me with a pleading look, "Aren't you going to do something?"

I shake my head, "No, I just found out how insanely powerful Crystal may actually be. Where were Rogue and Gile while you were being tied up anyway?"

"They were watching and laughing." Gin says rolling his eyes.

"Eat soup!" Crystal exclaims impatiently, shoving the bowl up so that Gin's face is submerged in the soup. Gin bucks and lets out a garbled yelp. Crystal lowers the bowl and Gin sputters, his face covered in green goopy soup.

"What the hell is wrong with you woman?" Gin shouts, only to have his face submerged in soup again.

I look back at Melissa, "Should I be worried for his safety?"

"No, Crystal is mostly harmless unless she is battling."

"Okay, then how about we get some lunch?" I say with a smirk at Gin who is giving me the evil eye as he laps up the soup on his face and from the bowl. I'm probably going to pay for this later. I'm going to have to sleep with one eye open. It's getting close to time for my night terrors to raise their ugly heads again, so not sleeping at all is kind of appealing.

"Sure." Melissa says as she follows me into the kitchen. I start rummaging through the cabinets and after a moment I find what I am looking for. I set the tea kettle in the sink and shift the coffee pot off the stove. Melissa watches me curiously as I begin rummaging through the pantry, "What are you looking for?"

I just grin as I pull a couple tea leaves out of their box. "Found it." I throw the tea bags onto the counter by the stove and begin to fill the tea pot with hot water from the sink. "Do you like tea?"

"Yes."

"Good." I say firing up the stove top and placing the tea kettle, with the tea bags soaking inside, on the stove. While waiting on the tea I start digging through the refrigerator, "You want anything from the fridge?"

"I can get it myself."

"No no, I'm already digging through here, just tell me what you want."

"Fine. Things for making a salad. You know, lettuce, vegetables, some berries and fruits too." Melissa says retrieving a cutting board from under the counter. "Are you going to try and steal some of Gile's meat?"

I laugh as I pass her the items she requested as I come across them, "No. I'll just have some of whatever you are making. But if Gile comes into the kitchen, I would like some warning."

"Okay."

I pass most of the berries to Melissa along with the other things she asked for but keep some of them to slip into the teapot to soak with the leaves, some of them I crush with my hands or tear apart. Leaving the teapot to do what it does, I take a seat at the kitchen table. I watch her as she chops up things and slides them into the salad bowl. "You seem to be taking Richard breaking up with you really well."

Melissa stops preparing the salad and turns to me, "Really? Because I'm fucking furious."

I do my best to cover my surprise, usually I can read emotions through aura shifts really well. Then again, if she has remained as furious as she was when he first broke it to her then her aura wouldn't shift and I wouldn't have any cues.

"Wanna talk about it?" This surprises her so much it looks like her eyebrows are headed for orbit. "What?"

"I have never had a guy ask me that. Ever." She takes a seat at the table, "I mean I know you are interested in me as a girlfriend, but when you said that you weren't thinking about that."

"I have experience interacting with angry girls." I say with a chuckle, more than once I received bruises while interacting with them, "Experience tells me that when a girl talks about what is driving her up the wall it helps them calm down."

"And with my level of power control it's safer for everyone if I calm down."

"I did not say that, but thank you for recognizing it." I say with a chuckle, "So, fire away."

"Well, I guess I should start by saying I was already kind of pissed with Richard because I have repeatedly caught him checking out pokémon while with me on a date."

I nod, that's understandable, especially if you consider such an attraction to be bad. Melissa rolls her eyes, "Yes, well, that wasn't the main point I was upset over. The fact that it was pokémon he was checking out. On top of the fact that he was checking out other females, it never really seemed that his heart was in the relationship. It was really frustrating because I was the only one trying to make something of the relationship, and today I found out why."

The teapot starts screaming at this point so I get up and take it off the stove. "Where are your coffee cups?"

"In the top cabinet on your right." Melissa replies and I grab a couple coffee cups out. I pour a cup of coffee for me and a cup of the tea for Melissa.

"So why was it that the royal dick didn't put anything into his relationship with you?"

"He was just trying to break his pokephilia." Is Melissa's bitter response, "He didn't tell me that outright. It kind of floated to the surface of his mind when he was 'trying to break it gently' that he was breaking up with me because I had turned into a pokémon."

I pass her the steaming cup of hot tea and sip my cold coffee, "Careful, that's hot. I've been told it tastes good with milk, but you don't drink milk. So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. I was already thinking about breaking up with him, but…" she says trailing off as she takes a deep breath of the steam rising from her cup. "Oh wow, this smells amazing." I nod as she takes a sip, "Wow. This stuff is amazing! Where did you learn to make it?"

I chuckle, unsure of how she is going to take this, "Mew actually. It's the way she likes her tea and most other psychic types like it too." I hold up my mug of coffee, "I personally hate tea, but I love coffee."

Melissa stares at the tea for a moment then shrugs, "Whatever, it tastes great. Thanks."

"I'm glad you like it." I say with a smile, closing my eyes to watch as her aura calms from the blazing hot pinks and blacks of her anger to a mellow, pulsing reddish gold. It's beautiful. I could just watch her flames pulse forever.

Melissa chuckles, "It's not polite to stare, Danny."

Goddamnit!


	12. Chapter 12: Whut?

CRASH!

I jump like a startled Glameow, sending my chair sliding across the floor as Gile skids over the tile along with a crap load of broken glass. I can hear Rogue shouting, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" from outside, which means that it isn't those DNA people that did this. That is a good thing, I guess, except it makes me the one responsible for fixing the Feraligatr. Fuck.

Melissa starts to rise and I shout, "DON'T MOVE!"

She looks at me with a frightened expression, "What? Why?"

"There is broken glass all over the floor. You don't have shoes and your feet are soft. If you walk around you will cut up your feet and then we will have two injured people to deal with."

Gile groans as he starts to sit up, "I'm fine."

"No, you aren't. You just got hit with a Giga Impact and you have some big glass shards in your back." I say as I walk back over to where Gile is sitting. Crouching down behind him, I take a deep breath before I put a hand on his back, "Don't move while I get these out."

However before I can grab hold of the first glass shard, the sharp fragment is enveloped in a blue glow and begins to move on its own. I pull my hand back in surprise as all the glass embedded in Gile suddenly jerks out of him and floats in the air around me. These shards are soon joined by all the other fragments littering the floor and even what glass remains in the door frame is pulled out to join its airborne kin. I turn and look behind me to see Crystal, her eyes and chest spike glowing brightly as she manipulates the hundreds of glass shards. The glass suddenly seems to liquefy and flow towards a single point in front of Crystal. All the pieces coalesce into a single glowing sphere of liquid glass. Her expression hardens as the sphere slowly deforms and morphs into a familiar shape. She then takes hold of the newly formed glass lucario and holds it to her chest with a smile.

"Okay. That was pretty damn cool." I say with a grin.

"Thanks!" Crystal says with a giggle before disappearing back into the living room.

I turn back to Gile's back and eye the puncture wounds that speckle his back. It would be best to potion these away before they get infected.

"Okay, I'll go get some potion." Melissa says as she rises from the table.

Gile turns his head to look at me, "How did you know it was Giga Impact?"

"It's the only move Rogue knows that would send your fat ass flying through the air like that." I say as I take a couple steps back from the feraligatr. Gile glares at me. "What? It's not my fault you got a fat ass."

"_Dannnnnyyyyy_…" Rogue singsongs as she walks towards the house.

A chill runs up my spine and I jerk a thumb over my shoulder, "I'm gonna check on Gin."

I hurry out of the kitchen but freeze as soon as I enter the living room. Gin and Crystal are both gone. I only trust Crystal about as far as I can throw her, which is actually pretty far, but I can't throw her through walls. Probably. Regardless, she isn't the most predictable of individuals, to put it lightly, and she'd already tied Gin to a ceiling fan with lots of tinsel. Arceus only knows what she will do next.

I shut my eyes and go into wave sight, seeking out Gin's aura. My sphere of vision shoots straight to Crystal's room. Gin is still tied up and sitting at a table with Crystal, and just like she told me, they are surrounded by piles of what look like stuffed pokémon. This doesn't surprise me too much, but what does surprise me is that Gin seems pleased with whatever is going on.

I quickly make my way up the stairs and down the hall. I stop outside the door, unsure of whether I should actually open it or not. I mean, Crystal is unpredictable and if I'm interrupting…

"Come in!" Crystal calls out. Hiding outside of rooms apparently doesn't work with psychic types.

I push open the door and my jaw drops, "Tea? You are making Gin drink tea? And he is enjoying it?"

Gin grins as he looks up from his tea cup, "Not tea!"

A large wine bottle floats out of one of the mountains of stuffed animals. I think it might be a red, maybe a dark pink color; it is hard to tell since the glass is colored. I blink in surprise, "Where did… can I have a cup of that?"

"Nope." Crystal says with a giggle as she pours Gin another teacup of the wine from her porcelain teapot. "You aren't invited to this tea party."

"I see no tea." I chuckle, "This is hardly a tea party."

A gallon jug of sweet tea emerges from another pile of stuffed animals. "There is tea." Crystal replies with roll of her eyes, "I'm not about to touch a drop of that stuff."

I raise a brow as she fills her own tea cup with the jug. "Okay then. I guess I'll be going." I reach over to close the door. "Oh, just so you know, in case you didn't already, Gin is a horny philosopher when he's drunk. Last time we got drunk together, he broke down chivalry into the love of pussy."

"Oh _really_ now?" Crystal leans towards Gin with a huge grin. "Now just how does that work?"

Gin stares at me then back at Crystal. "I… uh…. I plead the fifth?"

"Then you obviously haven't had enough wine."

I chuckle as I close the door, my job here is done.

~0~

Back down stairs I find that Melissa has finished fixing Gile up and he and Rogue are at it again. I stop next to Melissa and watch for a moment. Gile is darn impressive, not only is he a serious powerhouse, but he is incredibly fast for someone with such a fat ass.

"He is not fat."

I chuckle, "No, he isn't. It's mostly muscle. Still, he is very bulky."

"Yeah," Melissa admits with a sigh, "I've had him taking carbos for a while now."

"That would explain the speed."

Melissa winces as Rogue playfully leaps onto Gile's head and does a flip off of it. "Of course, he may as well be eating Styrofoam for all the good it does him trying to catch Rogue."

"I know the feeling. She's always been really fast." I chuckle, "The only one that can mess with her and evade her is Mew and she cheats."

"Huh?"

"She teleports. I'm sure you could too eventually."

"How?"

"Hell if I know." I say with a shrug. "I'm pretty sure the best I can teach you is aura type stuff."

Melissa grins, "That's perfect!"

"It is?"

"Yes!"

She looks t me excitedly, obviously eager to learn. I frown and shake my head, "I still don't get it. From all appearances you are dead set against learning to be a pokémon and learning aura sphere and a few Fight type moves isn't going to help you be human."

"Well, it won't help me be human, but at least I won't be randomly floating off the ground." What? Melissa sighs, "Your power comes from aura and your control of it. Aura is your 'Type'. The mechanics of controlling my power is probably very similar to yours, only my type is Psychic."

Well that sorta makes sense. I shrug and roll my neck, "Okay, I'll teach you, but first we have to get away from those two and away from anything breakable. In terms of raw power you're pretty dangerous, I seriously doubt focusing that power is gonna make you any safer until you learn how to aim it."

"That's what I hope to learn."

We head out into the day care area, giving Rogue and Gile wide berth as they continue to spar. When we are behind the ice habitat, I strip.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't want to ruin your dad's clothes." I say with a chuckle.

"Well, you are still missing half your underwear." Melissa says with a snicker, "And if Gile comes around the corner…"

Oh hell. That would not be good. "Good point." I say, quickly pulling the pants back on, "You're dad's pants are gonna have to take one for the team then."

"What makes you think you are going to ruin the pants?"

"Well, when I first met you, you had just finished demolishing a high tech lab, and since then your tail alone has tried to kill me twice. You have also blasted Gin and me on a couple occasions. You also kicked me in the nuts earlier today. Odds are, before we are done here, I will be hurting."

Melissa rolls her eyes, "Oh please. Those were all with extenuating circumstances."

"You kicked me in the nuts."

"You were being a smart ass."

"Ever thought of using a backhand?"

"Not as effective."

I groan, "Anyway, to start with you have to concentrate your energy."

"And how do I do that?"

I frown, It's been a long time since I had to actually concentrate on focusing my aura. It's kind of second nature to me these days. "Um, kind of imagine that your entire body has a power flowing through it. Does that make sense?"

Melissa closes her eyes, "Okay, now what?"

"Now focus on moving that energy to a single point." I say watching her carefully, ready to dive or use Protect at a moment's notice, "In your hand for instance."

Melissa lifts a hand and I take a step back as a pure white sphere forms in her hand and rapidly begins to grow larger. Oh crap. "Melissa I need you to very carefully try and reverse what you just did."

"Why?" Melissa asks as she opens her eyes and looks at the sphere, now about the size of a beach ball. The air around the sphere crackles with energy and I can smell ozone. "ARCEUS!"

I immediately dive under the sphere and tackle Melissa. The sphere stays in place as Melissa falls under me. As we hit the ground I throw up a Protect shield.

The sphere distorts briefly before exploding violently. A wave of raw power smashes into my Protect screen and the green shield bulges inwards towards us. I put all of my concentration into maintaining the integrity of the shield. To my surprise the shield pops back into shape before vanishing and we are thrown along the ground. Melissa screams and clings to me as we tumble over the dirt and grass.

Finally, we roll to a stop under some bushes. Melissa releases me and sits up to stare at the smoking crater in the ground from her misfire. "What the hell just happened?"

Rogue flies around the corner, followed closely by Gile. They both stare at the crater as well. The crater is a few feet deep and about fifteen feet wide. I groan, as I lift myself into a sitting position. "I tried to teach you Aura Sphere and you ended up almost forming a Hyperbeam." I glance down at the pants, "And your dad's pants are ruined."

"I did what you told me to do though."

"Mew can use all the elements." Rogue replies, shaking herself as she trots over to where we are. "You have to actually pick an element to use if you have access to more than one. Danny should have known that."

"Of course, because I'm a professional Move Tutor after all and know everything there is to know about pokémon and pokémon moves." I roll my eyes, "I learned everything I know by instinct and experimentation. That does not translate well to teaching hatchlings."

Whop!

I yelp and hold a hand to my nose, "What the hell?"

"I'm not a hatchling!" Melissa says with a glare that conflicts with the cheerful vibes she is giving off. "And you said you like backhands."

I stare at her for a moment in disbelief. Finally, I laugh and climb to my feet. I grab Melissa by the shoulders and lift her up onto her feet. "So I did. But those are for special occasions. Like when I'm being a complete asshole."

"I usually just Headbutt him in the nuts." Rogue pipes up from next to Gile, "That usually puts him right back in line. Well, as soon as he can stand again."

Melissa smiles and I wince, "Fortunately, your head is at a much less convenient level for such an action."

"My knees are though."

_I thought we just went over this. That is what backhands are for._ I think at her. I shake my head, "Regardless of future pains that are headed my way, I think it is time for you to teach me something useful."

"What? How could I teach you anything useful that you don't already know?"

I start walking towards the house, "I'm obviously going to be eating vegan for a while. I wanna know how to cook vegan." I pause, "Are Lucarios and Gardevoirs in the same egg group?"

"What kind of question is that?" Melissa asks with a shocked expression.

"Because Crystal is busy getting Gin sloshed right now, and I'm not ready to be an uncle."

Melissa is off like a flash shouting Crystal's name at the top of her lungs. I glance over at Rogue who is laughing so hard she can't walk straight. I shrug, "I don't think Gin would mind much."

"You and I both know that Gardevoirs are not in the same egg group as Lucarios." Rogue says once she finishes laughing.

"And so should Melissa." Gile adds scratching his head, "I suspect it is probably a combination of the fact that the wine is her father's and that Crystal has been disqualified from a gym match before for 'indecency'."

"Whut?" I laugh, "How can someone who essentially walks around naked all the time be indecent?"

"She improvised Attract." Gile grimaces, "It was… super effective."

I stare at Gile. "How do you improvise Attract?"

"Think about what Mew does with you almost every time she comes around." Rogue says, rolling her eyes as she trots past me into the kitchen, "And then take it to the Nth power."

I blush furiously, suddenly very grateful Melissa's focus is elsewhere right now. I stop at the kitchen table and look down at an empty coffee cup. "What happened to my coffee?"

"I thought you were finished." Rogue says as she takes a seat at the table across from me. I sigh and take the cup to the sink where I begin rinsing it.

I squirt some dish soap into the cup and begin to use my fingers to work the soap into lather. Once I am satisfied that it is clean, I rinse it out and set it on the counter. "See this?" I ask pointedly while holding up the coffee pot, "This is mine. _All_ _mine_. And the pot I make after dinner is mine too. So paws off."

"You do realize that all this is technically _not_ yours at all." Gile points out with a smirk.

I turn to Gile, "Guess who I met today?"

"Richard?"

"Yeah, I met the Royal Dick, but that wasn't who I was talking about. I was referring to Toni." I say with a chuckle, "Apparently a fire-type has been whooping your butt regularly."

I can feel Rogue's eyes burning holes in my back and I'm not sure if it is my imagination or if I can actually hear electricity crackling. "Well, I fought her today in a one on one, and to be brutally honest, I'm not surprised." I pour myself another cup of coffee as I continue, "I have no doubt that you are one hell of a bruiser. Feraligatr's are known for their physical attack power, and you are an excellent specimen. I bet you could go toe-to-toe with a Machamp and win. Is that an accurate assessment?"

I set the coffee pot down and turn around to look at Gile and Rogue. They are both staring at me with dumbfounded expressions. Gile is the first to find his voice, "Did you just compliment me?"

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" I say with a chuckle, "If you'd like I can balance it out by saying you have speed issues, something Toni is very good at. I was barely able to keep ahead of her attacks and ended up having to use a counter blow to make an opening for my own attack."

Gile is about to reply when a blood curdling wail causes all of us to just about jump out of our respective skins. I whip around to see Melissa walk into the kitchen carrying a partially depleted bottle of wine while a wailing Crystal is clinging to her tail and being dragged across the floor. Melissa stops halfway across the kitchen and tries in vain to yank her tail out of Crystal's grasp. "What the hell is wrong with you? You hate wine and you know how jealously my dad guards this particular bottle."

"BUT I NEED TO KNOW HOW CHIVALRY EQUALS THE LOVE OF PUSSY!" Crystal wails at the top of her lungs.

Melissa's mouth drops open in shock and she stares at the Gardevoir in shock. Rogue snorts and I struggle to keep a straight face. Gile just shakes his head. Melissa finally finds her voice, "What the hell does chivalry have to do with something as vulgar as that and why is wine the key to discovering that!"

"Danny told me that Gin gets all philosophical when he's drunk, and that last time they got drunk Gin managed to effectively describe chivalry in terms of tits and pussy."

Melissa turns to look at me, "Is this true?"

"Yep." I say with a crooked grin, "We do most of our really deep thinking when we get our hands on a bottle."

"It's really the only time you can expect them to not break anything." Rogue adds quickly. "The kind of deep thinking they do when sober is along the lines of 'Can gravity be used to create a Meteor Smash attack'."

"Can it?" Gile asks curiously.

"Yes, but you have to throw the individual really, really, _really_ high." Rogue says shaking her head, "Gin wasn't able to walk without a limp for a week."

Melissa rolls her eyes. Gile shrugs, "Well, it was an interesting question. Anyway, yes, Toni is way too fast for me, but I'm sure if I could just land one solid blow I could level the playing field."

"Have you tried learning Aqua Jet?"

"What?"

"It's a high speed water type move, kind of like a quick attack using water to launch yourself at an opponent." I say taking a sip of coffee, "Turning someone with as much bulk as you into a water-propelled missile would not only be a powerful move, but a good ace in the hole or surprise opening against quick moving fire-types." I can feel Melissa staring at me in surprise. "What?"

"I thought you said you weren't a trainer."

"I'm not." I reply with a frown as I turn to her.

"But you're giving battle advice."

"So?"

"Isn't that a trainer thing though? Teaching pokémon battle strategies and stuff?"

"Am I forcing him to battle against his will? Am I stealing him away from his home and family? Am I treating him as a weapon or a tool?" I ask gesturing with my coffee cup. "No, I'm not. I'm giving him advice he can use both in a life threatening situation as well as a friendly battle." I pause, "Pokémon battle for fun in the wild too. There are also life and death type battles there too. Battling advice isn't a trainer thing, it's a friend thing."

"That's the other part. You do not like Gile. Why would you give him advice?"

"I…I'm not entirely sure." I admit, "Except that he is the one that is going to be with you when I'm gone."

"When you're gone?"

"Yeah, once everything returns to normal you won't need me and it would be best for everyone if Rogue, Gin, and I left." I chuckle, "Unless something crazy happens and my criminal record is erased, then my staying here makes you a criminal too."

"Well that sucks."

Gile nods sagely, "Indeed, and I really don't know what they would do with us, or you for that matter. They can't just put you in a human prison now. They'll probably keep you in an ultraball or something."

"Nah, they won't keep her in a ball." Crystal says shaking her head, "They'll want to figure out what she is and study her."

Melissa grimaces, "Thanks guys. That is _oh so_ encouraging."

I take another sip of coffee before setting down the mug. "So, on a more pleasant note, how do I vegan?"

~0~

"That was actually really good." I say as I help clean up the dishes with Melissa.

"See? Vegan isn't so bad after all." Melissa says, flicking me in the arm playfully with her tail.

"Well, I'm not about to give up animal products forever, but I can definitely live with this for now." I reply with a chuckle.

"What are you going to do after you leave here?" Melissa asks as she begins filling the sink with soapy water.

"No idea." I shrug, "We never really had a plan when Rogue and I took off originally. Things just kind of fell into place all on their own." I laugh, "I actually owe you a thank you for catching that growlithe."

"Why?"

I grab a dish rag and begin scrubbing down a bowl, "Well, if you hadn't caught the growlithe, Gin and I wouldn't have been attacked by the Arcanine. If that hadn't happened, we probably wouldn't have gotten into the business of working for pokémon and life would have been very different. We definitely wouldn't have been brought out to the island by your Gyrados."

"So, what you're saying is that if I hadn't caught that growlithe, I would still be trapped in a lab somewhere?"

I pass her the bowl to dry and start cleaning another dish, "Or you may still be human. Depending on how our encounter impacted you, you may have just gone on to be another trainer and have been in the League by now." Melissa freezes with a strange expression on her face. I set the dish down in the sink. "You okay?"

Suddenly Melissa lashes out and slaps me upside the head. I yelp and rub the place where she whacked me. "What the hell?"

"That's for the huge part you played in my becoming a pokegirl." Melissa says crossing her arms.

"A what?"

"Pokegirl. A pokémon girl thing. Pokegirl."

I frown, "How did I play a huge part?"

"If it weren't for you I wouldn't have Rio." Melissa growls, "And if I didn't have Rio I wouldn't have been on that island where they turned me into a pokegirl."

I frown, for a couple reasons. The first reason is that Melissa is acting angry with me when I can easily tell that she isn't. In fact, she is still calm and even happy right now. The second reason is that I don't understand how I am responsible for her having a chicken gyrados. "Again, how?"

"Both Crystal and Rio were rescues of sorts." Melissa says rolling her eyes, "I actually bought Rio as a Magikarp from a seafood restaurant tank and Crystal kept getting shunted from trainer to trainer until she got to me because she didn't ever listen to commands and is one hell of a firecracker."

"Well, that certainly explains a bit about those two." I chuckle, "But how is that my fault?"

"It was you and Gin who pointed out that by capturing wild pokémon we take them away from their family and their homes. I didn't want to do that, so I have only added pokémon to my team who didn't already have those."

"Okay, so maybe I am a tad responsible for your current state." I sigh, "Anyway, I am trying to make it better."

"Yes you are." Melissa agrees before leaning in and giving me a quick kiss.

I can feel my eyes going wide as saucers. Sure it was only a quick kiss, but it was on the lips. Yeah, so that may not be a big deal to most Casanovas, but I'm no Casanova and I've been told twice that I either had no chance or that I should stay the fuck away. Is this just a kiss or is it a proposition?

"Which do you want it to be?" Melissa asks with a smirk that I have seen many times over the years.

"Uhhh… don't you have some sort of crush on a bad boy celebrity or something?" I ask, wondering if Gile is around, and if Melissa's smirk being identical to Mew's teasing look has any significance

"Yeah, I do. You."

Whut? Me? A celebrity? I guess I might be kinda infamous. But still… "So the guy that Crystal told me you had a crush on was actually me?"

"Yes."

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.

Melissa and I both turn to look at the stairs as Gin tumbles down them to land on his back in the kitchen floor. He sits up and shakes his head, which only makes him fall over again. He tilts his head to look back at us without sitting up. "Do you know where the wine went? I can't find it anymore." He goes a bit cross-eyed, "I'm also not feeling that good."

"Falling down the stairs will do that if you've had too much to drink." I sigh, "Something tells me your dad's wine is a bit stiffer than most."

"You could say that." Melisa giggles.

I walk over to Gin and throw him roughly over my shoulder. "Come on you druncario, let's get you ready for the inevitable hangover."

"Okay."

~0~

After setting Gin up at the toilet, and listening to him postulate about the source of fetishes for about an hour or two (I did contribute to the conversation, but it was mostly a monologue), I come back down to the kitchen and grab my mug of coffee and get another coffee pot brewing. Then I head outside.

I make my way again to the 'ocean' and sit down. Cold coffee and cold ground with a cool breeze. Very refreshing, if a bit on the chilly side.

"What are you doing out here? You're not going to sleep out here again are you?"

I glance back at Gile in the darkness, who is looking at me while on all fours. "Nah," I hold up the coffee mug, "I'm just settling in for a boring all-nighter."

"Why?"

"I'm pretty certain that tonight is the night of my night terrors." I say with a shrug, "So I'm gonna try and stay awake."

"Well don't be doing anything suspicious looking or I might jump you. With the door busted wide open like it is, I'm not going to be sleeping either."

"Gotcha. I'll be as innocent as possible." I say turning back to the ocean. I relax as I hear Gile walking away. I take a deep drink from my mug and sigh. It's been one hell of a day, and it's going to be one hell of a night if I let myself fall asleep. Fucking nightmares.

It doesn't take long for boredom to set in and my coffee cup to be empty. A dreadful combination if you want to stay awake on a dark night like tonight. I groan as I climb to my feet and start walking towards the house. I grab the coffee pot off the counter and head right back out. I sip the bitter drink straight from the pot as I take a seat in the wet sand. The acrid taste is a pleasant reminder that I am still awake.

I sigh and then freeze as I hear a growling voice say, "I am most displeased with you."

I slowly turn to look behind me and my jaw drops, "oh shiiiiit."


	13. Ch 13: Sweet Dreams

I ring my hair and clothes out quickly before I step inside the kitchen. I pick up the coffee pot off the counter and pour myself a cup and then pour a mug for Rogue as well. I chuckle as I lean back against the counter and quickly drain my cup as I hear several people coming down the stairs. I chuckle and begin to whistle as I begin digging through the cupboards. I find the box I am looking for and set it on the counter before heading to the fridge.

"Okay, what gives?"

I grin as I turn around to face Rogue while holding a large bowl of apple sauce. "I'm making vegan pancakes!"

Rogue's eyes go wide and she takes several steps back. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Danny?" Her eyes narrow, "You're not Danny, you're Mew aren't you?"

"What?" I laugh, "Of course I'm not Mew. I'm pretty sure she can only impersonate pokémon."

"No, you've impersonated Danny before."

I chuckle, "Why did nobody tell me this?"

"Stop playing."

"I'm not playing, what did Mew do?"

"Gin! Get your hungover ass down here! I need you to check if this is really Danny!"

Gin slowly crawls backwards down the stairs as he groans, "Stop shouting, you're going to make my head explode."

Gin slowly climbs to his feet once he reaches the bottom of the stairs and carefully walks to the kitchen counter where he grabs the coffee pot and begins drinking. Rogue and I watch as he gradually drains the pot dry. "Are you clear headed enough to effectively judge my aura?"

Gin nods and hands me the coffee pot, "I have a sure fire method to make your aura really shine."

"How?" I ask, a little intrigued. Suddenly I realize just what Gin's method is and I leap away from him while simultaneously beaning him in the head with the coffee pot. The metal carafe bounces off the Lucario's head with a loud 'Klong!' and Gin falls onto his ass clutching his head.

"It's Danny." Gin groans before falling backwards onto the tile floor.

Rogue snickers, "What the hell just happened?"

"Gin was going to punch Danny in the nuts." Crystal giggles as she picks Gin up off the floor and carries him to the kitchen table. "To make his aura flare."

"Then what gives? It's obvious Gile threw you in the ocean again." Rogue asks.

"He was justified." I chuckle.

"More than justified!" Gile exclaims behind me, "The bastard kissed me!"

Rogue glances at Gin, "Are you sure it's not Mew? That sounds more up her alley."

Gin nods before laying his head on the kitchen table, "Not Mew."

I chuckle, "Now I really want to know what Mew was doing impersonating me. Anyway, it boils down to me having the absolute best nightmare i_ever_/i!" I glance over at Melissa as she quietly makes her way down the stairs. "Welcome to the world of the waking, Princess!"

"Can I i_please_/i punch him?" Gile pleads with Melissa.

Melissa looks at me and then at Gile. "What happened?"

"He was making all these weird noises in his sleep this morning. So I went to wake him, and the sonuvabitch KISSED ME!"

"He has surprisingly kissable lips." I say with a grin and Melissa stares at me as I laugh, "Besides, I've already been adequately i_punished_/i. Haven't I, i_Princess_/i?"

Melissa's ears flatten back against her head, "I… I d-don't know what you are talking about!"

"Okay, seriously, what the hell is going on?" Rogue exclaims, looking back and forth between Melissa and me.

"Nothing." I say with a smile, "Nothing is going on. In fact, except for my kissing Gile by accident this morning, nothing of significance has happened."

Rogue glares at me, "I don't know what happened, and I don't know what it has to do with Melissa or you kissing Gile, but I will find out, somehow."

"Good luck with that." I chuckle, "Melissa, I need your help. I think I figured out a way to make vegan pancakes, but I need your expert opinion."

"I better get extra." Gile warns and I chuckle, i_I think today is going to be a good day._/i

~0~

"Okay, fine. The pancake idea was a complete disaster." I finally admit as I scrub the stove top with a wet rag. "But that can't possibly be my fault! It simply isn't natural for pancake batter to explode like that!"

"That was a bit unusual." Melissa chuckles, and then points to a spot where there is still burnt batter caked on, "You missed a spot."

"No, I just haven't gotten to that one yet." I pause in my scrubbing, "A ibit/i? You mean that sometimes things randomly explode around here? I mean sure, you seem to have a thing for making stuff explode, but is that really the norm around here?"

I dance out of reach of Melissa's tail as it lashes out, grinning as she rolls her eyes, "Between Crystal's eccentricity and ADHD, Gile's battle style, and Rio's rather frightening panic attacks, yes, explosions tend to be the norm around here. At least when I'm not traveling."

I rinse out my rag and get back to scrubbing, "So why aren't you travelling right now?"

"The next gym I need to beat to proceed in the League uses steel and electric types and is known for being brutal in his matches. He's been on the receiving end of a number of investigations into his treatment of pokémon and nearly been shut down for excessive force in League ordained battles." Melissa replies flatly with a weary slump in her shoulders.

I set my rag down and take a seat on the counter. "It sounds like you have been asked that a lot."

"Yes."

"Which means you've been at home for some time now right?"

"Yes." I open my mouth to ask another question, but Melissa cuts me off with a finger, "I'm going to ask a question now."

"Yes?"

"Why are you so sociable?"

"I'm not sure I understand the question."

Melissa sighs and leans on the counter, "You get along with most every pokémon you meet, and somehow, most humans. You made a living stealing from humans."

"I also did odd jobs for pokémon too, it wasn't all rescue missions."

"Not just those, you also stole supplies, and apparently you also liberated liquor." Melissa points out dryly, "But that's not my main point. You're so… not normal…"

"Extraordinary?"

"No."

"Smart?"

"A little, but no."

"Incredibly sexy?"

"NO!"

"Wow, you don't have to be mean about it. Besides, I seem to remember you voicing a very different opinion last night."

Melissa gives me a look, "It's irrelevant. You always seem to have an answer. You also almost always seem to get along with everyone that isn't a dick to begin with."

"And?"

"That's not normal."

"I would hardly describe myself as normal."

"True. However, you seem too perfect."

I snort, "You're joking right? I'm far from perfect."

"Oh yeah? Let's recap, my initial encounter with you resulted in a major, life changing shift in my outlook on pokémon and the League."

"Okay, I can understand a boy riding on an arcanine and wielding a machete would be kinda impacting. How does that make me perfect?"

"You weren't just flashy, you were eloquent." Melissa objects. "At our age back then, that's one hell of an accomplishment, and in general not normal. Then the next time we met you actually saved me, fought off a small army, and then jumped off a fricking cliff to make your escape."

"I also groped you. I didn't fight off an army, I just fought a couple people and ran like hell for the rest." I chuckle, "Hardly impressive. I was actually scared shitless you were dead and I was going to be stuck on that island."

"Still. You were pretty awesome."

I start fiddling with my hair, trying to undo the tight braids. "Thanks. Don't forget Gin though, he's the one that actually calmed Rio down. Heck, he's the one that trained me to use aura."

"I guess, but what about how you are awesome with people? You gathered a crowd and seemed to be putting on quite a show for them in the short time I went in to get new underwear."

"I am not awesome with people." I grimace, "You have no idea how happy I was to see you come back out."

"Really?" She asks giving me an incredulous look. "You looked to me like you were having a grand ole time, and when I showed up you felt like you were in trouble."

"I can put on one hell of a show, but I hate crowds." I say with a chuckle, "They make me feel trapped. As for how I felt, you were pissed, and then you kicked me in the nuts."

"What about Toni? You only interacted with her for a few minutes and by the end of that she was pretty damn enamored with you."

"Fighting types are not hard to impress. A few compliments and a show of strength is typically sufficient." I grin. "Annnnnd…"

"Don't say it."

"I'm just that sexy."

Melissa buries her face in her hands before groaning, "How long are you going to keep bringing that up?"

"A little bit longer." I chuckle. I yelp as the wet rag smacks me in the face.

Melissa laughs, "Well, I'll go get ready to head out. We're going to go buy a replacement sliding glass door."

"What am I wearing?"

"I'm not your mother, it's not my responsibility to dress you." Melissa replies with a dismissive wave. "But you'd better be finished cleaning up the stove by then. Or else you'll be going with Gile instead of me."

Crap.

~3~

I look the large box holding the sliding glass doors over. "There is no way I'm gonna be able to carry that by myself."

"I thought you were super strong?"

"Yes, over short distances!" I exclaim. I'm stronger than most humans, but I can't carry a big ass door for several miles on my back! I shake my head, "I am not carrying that. We are stealing a cart."

"Okay. I'll go get a cart."

I watch Melissa walking around the corner to get one of the large dollies used to move the heavy stuff around. Once she is out of sight I turn back to the large door in its cardboard box. It's a bulky bastard and it's gonna be a pain to carry around back to put in.

"I've got a cart!"

I reach around the box and lift. i_Not as bad as I thought it was going to be._/i I think to myself as I start walking the door to Melissa's large flat cart. Okay, so maybe it isn't a walk so much as a waddle, because although it isn't as heavy as I thought, it is every bit as clunky to carry as I thought it would be.

"I can't see around this, so you'll have to tell me when I'm close."

"You're close."

I carefully set the glass door onto the cart. "Okay, so now we go pay for the door right?"

"No, now you go pay for the door. Rogue broke it."

I sigh and move around to the handle side of the cart and start pulling it towards the front of the store.

~0~

Once we get out past the parking lot Melissa starts giving me 'looks'. Looks that scream 'mischief' and 'predatory'. After a couple minutes of pushing the cart and getting these looks with no conversation, I finally ask, "What?"

I yelp as Melissa leaps on my back and wraps her legs around my waist. "What the hell?"

Melissa points ahead of us dramatically, "Onward!"

I sigh and roll my eyes as I begin walking, "I would have expected that from Crystal, not you."

"Less talk, more walk, Steed!" Melissa laughs, squeezing me with her legs.

I raise brow, but don't say anything as I keep walking, but I have a plan in the i_back_/i of my mind. Slowly I increase my pace until I am pushing the cart at a nice jogging pace, keeping my eyes open for a specific something. Once I see my target I push the cart into the grass where it quickly rolls to a stop.

"What are you doing?" Melissa asks as I break into a sprint up a grassy hill.

"Have you figured out how to fly yet?"

"No."

"You may want to learn quickly." I chuckle as warp my arms around her knees.

Cresting the hill I can see the small spring in the middle of the park. There are a couple people fishing on the far bank, and people scattered all around, but none of them are between us and that dark blue water. Melissa begins screaming as I accelerate into extreme speed and leap out over the spring.

I stick my feet out straight and shoot through the surface. I let go of Melissa and let her slip off my back as I sink deeper. Holy shit it is cold! My eyes open as I touch the bottom. I grin, there is very little that can compare to being underwater.

It is peaceful yet full of motion and life at the same time. I look around through the crystal clear water, spotting a few Feebas swimming over to me. I wave and start fiddling with my cornrows again. I've managed to get them somewhat loose and the water is helping accelerate the process. Then it occurs to me that I am forgetting something, something important. What is it? Oh yeah, breathing.

I kick off the ground and up to the surface. My head breaks the surface and I take huge, gulping breaths. Damn, oxygen does a body good! I grin as I start swimming back towards the shore.

"DANNY! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Melissa shouts somewhere behind me.

I laugh as I kick a little harder for shore. I stand up as soon as I touch ground and slosh out of the water onto the shore. Stumbling along I glance back to see Melissa also stumbling out of the spring. I smirk as she makes her way towards me, "You know, a white shirt and no bra was probably a bad choice for this trip."

Melissa lifts a hand and I find myself airborne and heading back into the spring. I splash down in the shallows and slide into the muddy bank on the far side of the spring. I look up at the fisherman staring down at me in shock and grin as I climb to my feet.

"Are you okay?"

I laugh, "Hell yeah. Running from angry females is kind of a hobby of mine." I look across the spring to see Melissa actually running across the surface. "And I should be running now."

I sprint around the spring, firing a couple golf ball sized aura spheres into the spring around Melissa. The water around her splashes wildly but her steps don't falter as she continues running after me across the spring. I sprint towards the playground area as she hits the shore. I dart around a large jungle gym and turn to see Melissa standing on the other side. "Hi there! That was pretty impressive running on the water like that."

Melissa's mouth turns up at the corners slightly, "Thanks, but I'm still gonna thrash you."

She slowly starts moving around the jungle gym and I try to move as well, but my feet feel like they weigh eighty pound each. Melissa notices my surprised expression and grins toothily, "I remembered how to do a couple of things from last night."

i_Oh shit./i_ I try to get away, but it's almost like running underwater, while wearing lead boots. In moments Melissa is standing in front of me. She raises a hand and I cringe. Then she grabs me by the chin and kisses me.

My eyes fly open and I stare at her, "What happened to thrashing me?"

"I'll let Gile do that." Melissa says, kissing me again. In my head I hear, i_That was actually a lot of fun. Maybe we could do that again, but while properly clothed next time._

_Sounds good to me./i_ I think back to her.

WHAP! WHAP!

Both Melissa and I yelp in pain and turn to see an older woman holding a rolled up magazine, "Just what do you think you are doing in front of all these innocent children."

I take a look around and see every single kid staring at me from the various play equipment. I shrug, "It was just a kiss, no tongue either."

WHAP! WHAP!

"It is perverse and disgusting, parading your fetish in front of these children!" the woman exclaims angrily.

"Fetish?" I frown, not sure what she is talking about. "I'm just being kissed by my girlfriend." I turn to Melissa, "We are a couple, right?"

Melissa rolls her eyes, "If you couldn't tell by now then there is no hope for you."

I smirk, "Well you never called me a boyfriend, you called me a lot of things, but that was not one of them." I turn back to the woman again, "Anyway, I'm not seeing the fetish."

"Your kind disgust me. Dressing up your… animals and publicly flaunting your deviance in the faces of the righteous." She spits on me and then on Melissa.

I blink and wipe spit out of my eye, "Well then, I think I have figured out the problem here." I can feel Melissa's anger burning brightly next to me, but I grab her hand and start to walk away, "Come on Melissa, let's leave the confused woman alone."

Melissa follows me for a bit but then the woman calls after us, "You are going to burn in hell, because that is the fate of all who fornicate with beasts! Arceus declares it!"

Melissa whirls around and I tackle her to the ground as she shouts, "I'm not an animal damnit! I am a human being!" I pick her up as she continues, "I did not choose to be turned into this!"

"Drawing too much attention." I mutter into her ear as I look around at the other people in the park who are now i_all_/i staring at us.

Melissa takes a deep breath and sighs, "Whatever." She pulls my arms from around her waist and stands up straight. "I can walk on my own."

I nod and follow her out of the park and back to the cart with the door. I start pushing it down the path again and Melissa walks along next to me, glowering in silence.

"I'll fix you a cup of tea when we get back." I say with a sigh.

Melissa smiles slightly, "Thanks. Sorry about blowing up back there."

I chuckle, "Can't say I blame you."

"Why aren't you pissed though? She was mostly attacking you."

I laugh, "What? Me get angry over a little insult from an obvious bigot? This may surprise you, but there are plenty of bigoted pokémon too, and many of them are much more physical in their disapproval."

"Really?" Melissa gives me a surprised look. "I was under the impression that pokémon would be more accepting of interspecies sex."

I raise a brow, "I didn't say they were bigoted about that. Many hate humans in general, why else would you need to travel with a friendly pokémon for protection?"

"I never really thought about it." Melissa says, "Is that something that came to you during a drinking binge?"

I wince, "Actually it came to me when a Ninetails tried to eviscerate me for no reason. That was one fight I was not proud to win."

Melissa looks at me in surprise, "Why?"

"I ended up killing her in front of her daughters."

"Oh."

We walk in silence for a bit, waiting on the other to break the silence. Finally I decide to do the deed myself, "So what are your views on interspecies relations?"

"I'm against them actually."

I nod, "Are your reasons… um, religious like that woman's were?"

"No, it's just that more often than not when I see pokephiliacs with their pokémon, the pokémon seem… sad." Melissa says, "Like they wish they were somewhere else."

I think about that for a moment, "I guess that would be reason not to like something, seeing it cause pain most of the time."

"It would be natural for you to assume there is nothing wrong." Melissa smiles a bit sadly, "You don't have a language barrier."

"True." I smile, "What's that like for you? Being able to talk to pokémon now?"

Melissa smiles, "That's probably the only good thing about all this."

"Hey! What am I? Chopped liver?" I exclaim in mock indignation.

"Nah, you're more of a Vienna sausage." Melissa says with a laugh.

I tilt my head to the side as I try to decipher that statement, and then it hits me. "HEY! I am not!" Melissa sticks out her tongue at me and takes off. I push the cart harder and chase after her, "Take that back!"

~0~

By the time I manage to catch up to Melissa we are already back to the house. "Gotcha!" I shout leaping on top of her so that we tumble over the sand into the small cave area of their property. I end up on top and I pin her face down and hold her arms against her sides with my knees.

"Take it back." I gasp, breathing hard and dripping sweat.

Melissa sticks her tongue out at me playfully as she lies panting, "Make me."

"Okay." I grin crookedly, and begin tickling her sides.

Mellissa squirms and cackles underneath me as my fingers assault her sides. Her tail slaps me upside the head a couple times, but I ride it out until she finally cries out, "I give! I give! You're not a Vienna sausage, you're a bratwurst!"

I pause and frown in confusion, "What the hell is a bratwurst?"

"It's a sausage, and I think it's actually a pretty good approximation."

I smirk, "And why the hell should I trust a vegan about the size of sausages?"

Melissa snickers, "Because, Gile loves sausages."

I think about that for a moment before laughing, "That's not very nice!"

Still laughing I climb off of Melissa and help her to her feet. She grins, "But he really does!"

I shake my head and head back to the cart, which miraculously still has the glass door on it. "Let's get this thing around back so we can start fixing things."


	14. Chapter 14: The Daedeli

ATLTH 14

The Daedali

The door to the conference room flies open and Dr. Hector strides in with an apologetic chuckle. "I'm very sorry for my tardiness, especially since I am the one that called this meeting."

He glances around at the seven gathered individuals, near the head of the table, is former Kantonese Marine Corp Colonel Michael Irons with his arm in a cast. He nods at Dr. Hector with a small smile. Next to him is Dr. Jessica Usagi, a tall woman with long dark hair and a snug blouse that showcases her ample endowments, when it comes to digital transfer and all kinds of computer languages there is no equal. Sitting close by her is her husband, Roger Usagi, a small, thin man with thick glasses and a white lab coat similar to the one that most grunts wore. However he was no mere grunt, he was one of the most gifted minds on the planet.

Across from Roger sits a man who appears like one more at home in a back alley than the white walled conference room in Sigma Labs. His shoulder length brown hair is a curly mess that is knotty from neglect, but it provides a perfectly logical match to his blood shot eyes and the black circles under them. His brown coat is ruined by numerous unidentifiable stains, and from it he pulls a small clear bottle of smoky black liquid, "Yeah yeah, whatever. Can we start the meeting yet or do we need to wait for Wheels and Scrooge?"

"Jonah's dead." Irons replies with a smirk, "Got cocky and declared himself the leader of Team Helix after the incident at Epsilon Labs."

"And he was promptly executed." Dr. Hector says, gesturing to the clean cut, ebony skinned man in the blue suit that is seated across from Irons, "This is the new 'Scrooge', Ferdinand M. Johnson."

Suddenly noticing the man next to Johnson, a youthful scientist with short blonde hair holding a stack of papers tightly, Dr. Hector's eyes narrow. "Who the fuck are you? Where is Jameson?"

The blonde haired man shuffles his stack of papers nervously, "My name is Gerald French, one of Dr. Jameson's aides. Dr. Jameson sends his best regards and news that the Starfall project has made a giant leap forward in the past twenty four hours and he is needed back at Maranatha Labs to oversee tests on the latest subjects."

The scarred man's eyes narrow behind his scowling mask, which most likely matches his face at the moment. Gerald's brow shines as he begins to nervously sweat under the diminutive man's critical gaze. Finally Dr. Hector speaks, "For a man born with no spine, Jameson sure has a lot of backbone to stand me up like this, _again_. When you return to Maranatha, make sure to let Jameson know that the next time he stands me up I'll have his head. Literally, it will make an excellent bookend on my office shelf."

Dr. Hector moves to take a seat at the head of the long table that dominates the conference room. He gestures to Gerald, "Since you've already told us a part of the report on the progress of Project Starfall, go ahead and tell us the rest."

Swallowing hard, Gerald shakily looks over the pages of his report. "Yes, well, there is still some difficulty in controlling the levels of symbiosis applied by the progenitor's spawn and an unacceptably high prevalence of psychological dysfunction in all subjects regardless of the level of corruption, even some of the researchers have been exhibiting signs of dysfunction. The exact cause for the transmission of the dysfunction to uncorrupted individuals is unknown and disturbing, and for a time slowed progress down as we sought a solution. Dr. Jameson believed it to be directly related to the progenitor's form and psychic powers. Psychic dampers have been applied to the progenitor's holding cell and this has led to a moderate decrease to complete elimination of psychosis in all afflicted individuals. We have also mandated the use of dark type pokémon by the security teams, though many continue to employ their personal pokémon in addition to the dark types. Dr. Jameson believes that if we can find a way to exert more control over the progenitor we may be able to attain complete control of the process."

"So, just what exactly was the giant leap forwards that kept the freewheeler at home?" Macready asks irritably as he unscrews the cap on his bottle, "You say the project has progressed significantly, but all you've told us about are problems. Where's the motherfuckin _good_ news?"

Gerald swallows hard as the man takes a large swig from his bottle, his bloodshot eyes not wavering for a second as he stares the aide down. "I-I was just about to get to that."

"Well, get on with it then." Macready demands around a mouthful of liquid, "Some of us actually have work we _want_ to be working on right now."

"Y-yes, of course." Gerald nods, "The progenitor has shown a desire to communicate, and Dr. Jameson believes that an agreement of sorts can be met so that we can effectively utilize the spawn to create humanoid bioweapons by altering humans and controlling them with psychic implants that mimic the progenitor's psychic signals."

Dr. Hector nods appreciatively, "That is a significant leap forwards, almost enough to warrant his not showing. Almost."

Rolling his eyes, Macready is obviously far from impressed. "Borrowed meat puppets." Macready snorts, "And what plan do you have for when your 'progenitor' wants control of his puppets back? Hmm? What then? I saw the file on the progenitor's capture when there were only a few spawn and a handful of his puppets. It took nearly thirty men and their pokémon in addition to their guns to merely capture it. Only three came out uninjured and half were dead."

"Which is precisely why I have Dr. Jameson working on that project." Dr. Hector testily answers for the aide, "He has experience working with psychics and is an excellent biologist. And being a powerful psychic himself he has the best opportunity to bring about a mutually beneficial agreement with the progenitor."

"I still think it's a bad idea to allow anything so hostile to life in general to exist." Macready mutters before downing the remains the small bottle and placing it back in his coat. "I figure I may as well go next since I'm already talking. Zephyr is coming along fairly well. We've managed to circumvent many of the power requirements of traditional mass transfer devices. We can now effectively transport matter effectively from one hub to another with about the twelfth of the power required for traditional teleportation tech. Thus large numbers of personnel and material can be transferred from a central base to any Zephyr hub, which could be easily installed into any Semi trailer."

Clapping quietly, Dr. Hector nods, "I am delighted to hear that, Macready. We now have the ability to move about the countryside pretty freely so long as we can place a hub where we want to go. How is the personal transport device going? The one that gives hub-free teleportation?"

Macready grimaces, "Not nearly so well. Most of our techs were stumped until one of them suggested modeling it on the teleportation that psychic pokémon use. However, that requires working with pokepsychics and psychic pokémon, and most of my crew is antagonistic towards psychics in general, human or otherwise." He stops and takes a new bottle of black liquid from his coat and opens it, "And I believe that we are all aware of my own shining record with diplomacy and people skills. As such, we have made little progress. Perhaps if we were to get a pokepsychic tech from Wheels so we can get some technical answers from the psychics or pokepsychics…" he trails off looking at Dr. Hector hopefully.

Dr. Hector glances at Gerald and shakes his head, "I doubt that a transfer will be easily obtained, even with death threats. However, I will work on convincing Jameson to loan you a technician with psychic ability, preferably one that is capable of communicating on the same mental wavelengths as psychic pokémon." Dr. Hector turns his gaze to Roger Usagi, "And how goes the Zeus project?"

"It goes well." Roger replies, "We have successfully managed to produce a number of beam attacks independent of living pokémon. The data from the ROTOMB project was very useful, and some of our techs managed to find some interesting applications for the soulharnessing procedure used therein. It turns out elemental energies can be imbued into inorganic objects to create much more effective weapons. As of this moment the applications are rather limited to potential use by Iron's armored troops, however I believe that with a little more"

"Roger," Interrupts Dr. Hector, "I brought you on board to develop elemental weaponry for use from orbit. _Not_ so you could make fancy toys for Michael's boys. Have you managed to do anything more than baubles?"

"Y-yessir." Roger stammers, fidgeting with his glasses. "We have managed to use the crystals from ampharos tails to manufacture thunder cannons. Unfortunately their range is limited to about fifty yards and the weapon itself is prone to catastrophic overload. Using the chest crystals from gardevoir we are able to make a variety of telekinetic weaponry including a psybeam cannon capable of devastating a fortified position at a range of a mile, though the recharge rate is rather abysmal at well over a day between shots. Our most effective endeavor has been using the spheres from a dragonair to produce a dragon type beam weapon. The range and power of this weapon are directly related to the number of orbs linked together it only takes a dozen orbs to power a weapon capable of punching a hole through two steelix lined up head to tail from a range of three miles. It can fire once every five minutes and the orb number to power level ratio is a generous one, not quite exponential but very generous indeed."

Dr. Hector laughs, "Excellent! So it wouldn't take more than six dozen to make an orbital weapon capable of destroying all the military installations of an entire nation within hours!"

"Yes, well, unfortunately, both range and power are inversely proportional to the area of affect, and the rate of decrease in power and range as the area of affect widens is also exponential."

"Meaning…"

"Meaning that even with _twelve dozen_ orbs you would be unable to reach a single facility from space with an area of effect capable of doing damage to the entire facility, let alone destroy it in a single strike. With a large number of these weapons a phalanx style barrage would produce the desired effect, but considering the rarity of dragonair this is hardly a cost effective method. The area of affect for the beam that pierced the two steelix was approximately the size of a quarter. That makes the weapon, which is approximately the size of a gym bag and can be shoulder mounted for use by armored or unarmored personnel, an excellent one for eliminating key targets, such as leaders of state, in a flashy manner. However as a tool for orbital bombardment it is useless. So far the best orbital weapon appears to be the hyperbeam that can be created by channeling electrical energy through a series of rapidly rotating starmie crystals. The ratio of power input to output is approximately 1:10, and the range exceeds ten miles. The exact power and effect details are in my report along with all the other weapons we have managed to create."

"My god, you are a wordy bastard." Macready groans, "Please, be less of a windbag than your hubby, Lopunny."

Dr. Hector chuckles, "What is the status on Olympus? Are we ready to launch?"

"Almost." Jessica usage replies, giving Macready a dirty look, "The appropriate control protocols are in place so that my porygon-Z will all be able to control the construction drones. Most of the drones and supplies have been manufactured, all we need is a launch site." She pauses, "And the rocket of course. All other plans for Olympus are in my report along with the list of needed materials." She shoots Macready another scowl, "Short enough for you, you drunken son of a bitch?"

Macready holds up a finger, his middle one actually, as he takes a chugs the contents of a third bottle of black fluid. He slams the now empty bottle down with a loud 'ahhh', "Not drunken just yet sweetie, those were my espresso bottles, the Black Russians come later. I've got plenty for the both of us back at my place if you want to share."

"Go fuck yourself Macready."

Macready waggles a hand, "Don't make me bring out the pimp hand, Lopunny."

"Children, please." Dr. Hector interrupts loudly, "The sooner we can finish this meeting the sooner we can all go our separate ways and get back to things we would much rather be doing. Michael, I believe you are up next."

"Yes, the majority of my troops have undergone the initial rounds of hormone therapy and implant surgery. Over the next couple of weeks the first squad will be armored and trained for use of their armor and new loadouts. By the beginning of next month they will be operational and ready for real combat." Irons says with a smirk, "I believe they will impress even you."

"I look forwards to that then." Dr. Hector replies with a nod, "As you have probably heard by now, earlier this month we had the first successful infusion of genetic material into a human test subject since the initial chimeran. Unfortunately, there was a catastrophic containment failure and she escaped with the aid of a human Master of Aura known to the public as The Runaway and his lucario. My technicians, and myself, are all trying to determine just what made for a perfect infusion in this subject and the chimeran but not the others. The answer is there, we have not found it yet though. Once it is found we will begin testing in earnest."

Dr. Hector clasps his hands behind his back and clears his throat, "Well, that is all! You are now free to move about and attend to your own matters." He quickly turns and leaves the room, his long lab coat flaring out behind him as he does so.

He doesn't get far down the hall however before Irons catches up to him, "Are you very busy right now, ?"

Dr. Hector glances over at Irons, "Am I ever not busy?"

"Only very rarely, sir." Irons replies with a smirk, "What I should have asked is, are you too busy to help me deal with that Rocket messenger?"

Dr. Hector chuckles, "Absolutely not."

Dr. Hector follows Irons to another conference room where a man with a briefcase is sitting at the far end of a conference table as he fiddles with a phone. On the man's white jacket there is a red R, marking him as a member of Team Rocket and one in a position of some significance judging from his outfit and the two grunts to either side of him with pokéballs in hand. Looking up from his phone he raises a brow in amusement, "Dr. Hector himself, fascinating. I was only expecting to meet with a staff member, or at best Mr. Irons here."

Dr. Hector nods, "Irons has requested my assistance in meeting with you, and I agreed. It will be a welcome relief from staring at a screen full of data for hours on end."

"I'm encouraged to hear your enthusiasm for working with us."

"You shouldn't be." Dr. Hector replies coldly as he lifts his hands. There is a loud bang and a salvo of spines fly from his sleeves. The grunt's are dead before they hit the ground.

The Rocket messenger leaps to his feet, "What the hell have you done?"

"I killed them." Dr. Hector replies flatly, rolling his neck as he walks around the table towards the last Rocket. He shakes out his arms, discarding the hidden spine launchers that had been attached to his forearms. "Do you really think we rose to a position of dominance in this country by being stupid? We know that you have moles in our organization. Thirteen to be exact. All dead."

The Rocket swallows hard as Dr. Hector draws closer, "The power of Giovanni is absolute, you will pay for this betrayal!"

Hector stops in his tracks a few feet away from the Rocket. "Me, betray Giovanni?" he snarls, "He betrayed ME!" Dr. Hector lunges forwards, grabbing the man by the collar and slamming him on the table. "I put my own blood, sweat and tears into his scientific schemes and all I asked for in return was the chance to use some of what we discovered and a fraction of the resources provided for our work for just one day! ONE!"

In a display of surprising strength, Dr. Hector hurls the man across the table to tumble to the ground with his briefcase. "I developed the process by which a living organism's DNA could be altered seamlessly! I made the ultimate result of project Mewtwo, the crown jewel of Team Rocket's scientific sector, a reality by enabling the genetic alteration of live clones possible! All the fine tuning required after the embryo stage to fashion the ultimate pokémon, that was my work! My brainchild! And how does that sunovabitch repay me?"

BANG!

Dr. Hector stumbles back as the Rocket rises to his feet, a Team Helix revolver in his outstretched hands.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Dr. Hector jerks under the force of the bullets hitting his chest, his head snapping backwards as the final shot strikes his steel face mask and he drops like a stone.

Irons stares at the Rocket in shock, and misses the narrow window of opportunity as the man quickly reloads the revolver and turns it on Irons. "Heh, you knew we had moles, but you obviously didn't know we already managed to get a hold of a few of your new toys."

Irons sighs and shakes his head, "Of course we knew. All recruits get those, we just didn't think you'd be dumb enough to walk in here with one, let alone use it. Then again, you were as good as dead the moment you walked into this facility."

"Yes," the Rocket says with a shrug as he walks towards Irons. "But I cut off the head of Team Helix! Justice has been delivered to the traitor."

Irons smirks, "Are you sure?"

The Rocket frowns, lowering the gun slightly, "Are you blind? I just shot the bastard five times in the chest and once in the head for Cresselia's sake!"

Suddenly a hand grabs the Rocket by the hair and slams his head against the table, and then does it again and again. Finally the rocket is released and he looks up in a daze to find Dr Hector standing over him. "Impossible. I killed you."

"No, you shot me. There is a difference." Dr. Hector growls his voice barely audible through the cracked mask. "The very first thing one does after developing a weapon he intends to distribute to his troops is to insure it can't be used against him effectively. Recruit's guns only have half the power of a veteran's gun, and we made armor plates a part of the uniform ages ago for a reason." Dr. Hector pulls a revolver from underneath his coat and places it against the Rocket's temple, "Now it is time for you to disappear."

~0~

"I never cease to be amazed by the mess these weapons make of a body." Dr. Hector chuckles as he scrubs his hands in the bathroom sink, the water running pink as it flows over his hands.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Irons asks from a few feet away, eyeing Dr. Hector warily. "I mean he did shoot you in the head."

"My mask took most of the impact." He replies with what can be assumed to be a smile judging from his tone. "I designed it in a similar manner to the armor plates, so I'm fine. Just going to have a nasty headache and some facial bruising for a while."

Chuckling, Irons shakes his head in disbelief, "Has anyone told you that you are a tough old bird? What are you now? Sixty? Seventy?"

"Yes, I've also been called a godless heathen." Shaking his hands dry he reaches up and readjusts his mask, which has become crooked again. "I have not denied either. However, as far as age is concerned, I believe you are only as old as you feel. Right now I feel older than dirt, I'll be in my quarters until tomorrow. Standard procedure."

"Not to be disturbed unless it is a true emergency or a major breakthrough in Project Ascension." Irons intones with a smile, "Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again."

"Glad to know you've got it memorized."

~0~

The door to Dr. Hector's personal chambers hisses open and the man himself slowly walks into the dark room. He snaps his fingers and a red light springs to life, illuminating the large bedroom in shades of crimson. In one corner of the room there is a large bed and along one wall is a sturdy looking desk with a shelf over it. Walking over to the desk, Dr. Hector sighs and reaches out a hand to stroke the lone item that sits atop the wooden desktop.

A feraligatr skull.

If only he had been stronger then, maybe he would have been able to merely take what he needed in order to save her. But he hadn't been strong enough had he, and Scylla had died a very preventable death. If he had learned nothing else that day, it was that the strong made the rules by which all must abide, and that Giovanni was a heartless bastard.

A low hiss pulls Dr. Hector out of his musings and he looks up to see an enormous Arbok looking down at him. He chuckles, "Good evening Jormundgar."

Leaning in close to the masked man, tasting the air around him. Suddenly her eyes widen and she slips her tongue through one of the bullet holes in Dr. Hector's shirt. Lifting her head to look at Dr. Hector's damaged mask she lets out a concerned hissing.

"Don't worry, I only got shot a couple times."

Jormundgar lets out an exasperated huff and Dr. Hector allows himself to be pushed along until they reach the bed. Swiftly coiling around the doctor, Jormundgar lifts him up onto the bed and begins to use her nimble tail to strip off his upper garments until only the trauma plate strapped to his chest remains. The ceramic surface is shot through with cracks and where the bullets impacted the steel core is easily visible and obviously dented.

"See? None of the bullets went through, nothing to worry about!" Dr. Hector laughs as he sits up, pushing Jormundgar's head away from his chest. "I swear you are worse than my mother ever was."

There is a loud whoosh accompanied by a flash of blue energies and Dr. Hector's chest plate falls forwards away from his chest, the back straps incinerated by the draconic energies of Jormundgar's surgically precise application of Dragon Tail. Dr. Hector stiffens reflexively, "My dear, a gentle nudge would have been more than sufficient I think."

Jormundgar lets out a giggle of sorts before gently pushing Dr. Hector onto his back again. With the armor out of the way now his surprisingly toned chest is visible, with its obscene crisscrossing network of gash and burn scars, and now in addition to that are five large bruises from the bullet impacts.

Opening her mouth wide, Jormundgar extends her fangs, a single drop of her potent venom forming at the end of one of them. Carefully taking this drop of venom with the fork of her tongue she spreads the small amount of venom over Dr. Hector's bruises. The potent toxin goes to work quickly, inducing numbness in the affected areas and gradually eliminating much of the pains from Dr. Hector's injuries all together.

"Thank you, nurse J." Dr. Hector sighs as he lays back once more onto the bed, at least until Jormundgar begins tugging on the waistband of his pants. He lifts himself up onto his elbows to look down at Jormundgar who is doing her best to give him bedroom eyes while gently pulling on the front of his pants with her mouth. The whole 'bedroom eyes' thing is not exactly an easy thing for forty foot snakes to pull off, but Jormundgar is doing a pretty good job of it. Dr. Hector chuckles and runs a hand lovingly over Jormundgar's snout, "I take it we are interested in a much more thorough physical examination of the patient? I certainly think I can accommodate you with that."


	15. Chapter 15: The Good Life

The bright rays of the morning sun brush my eyelids and I roll over with a groan, reaching out for a warm body. To my surprise, all I find is a cool pillow. I open my eyes and sit up quietly to find Melissa is standing across the room in front of a tall mirror and examining her reflection instead of laying next to me in bed.

I smile and climb out of bed, making my way up behind her I wrap my arms around her and rest my chin on her shoulder. "I don't need aura powers to know that something is bothering you." I give her a squeeze, "Come on, out with it."

"You killed my figure." She mutters.

I can't help but snicker, "That's it? You're up early and all moody over a couple pounds?"

"Thirty is a lot more than a few!" Mellissa growls, placing a hand on her plush belly. "How am I supposed to compete with other women? First I have to be a pokémon, and then add being _fat_ to that. There is no way I could possibly compete."

Releasing her I take a couple steps back and scratch my head, "So… what you're saying is your worried that I'm going to find someone else more attractive than you?"

"Yes."

"Good grief." Shaking my head I smile, "That is one of the dumbest fears. Ever."

"And why is that?" turning on me, Melissa places her fists on her hips as she gives me a dirty look.

"It just is. Plus it means you already forgot the different way I approach this sort of thing from most… humans."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, think about it from a pokémon standpoint. Just taking that point, the whole mew thing becomes a plus!" I chuckle, "Second, bigger is better. An ample mate means that I am able to provide above and beyond the needs of my family, and if your increase is related to my outstanding virility then I consider that grounds for bragging."

Groaning, Melissa rolls her eyes, and I laugh, "Come on, look into my head and see if I'm lying."

"Already did, and although you are mostly serious, it still doesn't make me feel any better about how I look."

I walk around behind Melissa and wrap my arms around her again, this time slipping my hands under her nightshirt and gently squeezing her belly, "Would you rather I just give you the 'there's just more of you to love' line?"

Melissa smirks and pulls my arms even tighter around her, "No."

"Well, and don't take this the wrong way, it wasn't your looks that I fell in love with anyway." I say gently stroking Melissa's belly fur, "It was your spirit and fierce attitude. You don't back down from a fight, but you also know how to pick your fights. I've yet to encounter another female that has impressed me like you have. I doubt I will either. Unless you stop being you, I'm not going anywhere."

"So what you're trying to say is that you'd never leave me over my looks?" Melissa asks as she relaxes a bit in my arms.

"Together forever, through thick or thin." I answer with a chuckle. One of my hands rises to cup one of Melissa's breasts, "Though I would like to point out that with the extra pounds, there is most certainly more of you to make love to, and I would _never_ complain about that. I'm actually surprised you haven't commented about how bad I want to show you just how sexy I think you are."

Melissa snickers, her tail brushing the obvious bulge in my shorts that is pressing against her plump rear before running the tip up my shorts and along my inner thigh. "I know, but you're just going to have to wait. It's almost time for breakfast."

I glance at the clock by the bedside. 'We still have a few minutes." I gently push her towards the bed, nibbling on her ear as I begin to massage her breast, "Bet I can finish you before time for Wheaties in soy milk."

Forcing her down onto the bed face first, I firmly grip her neck in my teeth, which sets her to purring. "Somebody is feeling dominant this morning."

"You know I don't like that whole 'denial' thing." I growl , my fingers slipping under the waistband of her shorts and yanking it down over her hips, "I am not about to be put on hold for 2 hours. Not when we can do it right-"

"! Cassidy won't give me the cereal boooox!" A young voice shouts from across the house,

"Damnit." I grumble and roll off of Melissa. "You go deal with the twins. I need to cool my jets."

Melissa giggles, "I did tell you we didn't have time. Looks like you'll have to wait after all."

I hop out of bed and make my way to the bathroom, "The moment that car rounds the corner…"

Once in the bathroom I splash myself in the face a few times and take deep breaths. It takes a bit but eventually I'm presentable and I make my way to the kitchen where Melissa is pouring herself a bowl of cereal with soy milk as the twins finish theirs. The twins being Cassidy, a mew hybrid like her mother, and Butch, a riolu hybrid. I hadn't been surprised by the difference in species, after all, Mew herself has never given birth to the same kind of pokémon twice, why should Melissa be different?

I grab a bowl and pour myself some breakfast, "You guys ready for school?"

"I don't wanna go to school today." Cassidy glares at her almost empty bowl.

My eyebrows lift a bit, "That's funny. I expected that from Butch, not from you."

"Mrs. Grita says I'm not allowed to levitate. Not even on the playground during recess."

"Hmmm…" I glance at Melissa who only shrugs. "I'll have to set up a meeting with Mrs. Grita to talk to her about that."

"That's not fair!" Butch exclaims next to me. "How come she gets to use some of her abilities at school but I can't?"

"Because you are too much like your dad." Melissa ruffles the thick tuft of fur on Butch's head, one of the main physical signs of my genetic contribution, with a smile, "Neither of you do 'just a little' very well."

"You'll just have to save it all for the training fields this weekend." I say around a mouthful of cereal, "You know, when we go to visit Uncle Gin and Aunt Crystal at your grandparent's house."

"Really?" both Butch and Cassidy exclaim in unison.

"Yep." I say, fighting to keep a smile off my face as Melissa stares at me with a shocked look on her face. Maybe I should have talked to her before saying that? Nah. The kids cheer and I laugh, "We'll you guys better get ready for school. The sooner you're ready for school, the sooner the weekend will get here."

They both scarf down the last of their breakfast and rush out of the room. Melissa stares at me, "If that was just a ploy to get them out of the house faster so you can get me back in bed then you are gonna be blue balling all week."

"Well, partly." I admit with a chuckle. "But if can use a surprise visit to my brother and Rogue out at your parents' place as a way to get more time with you in bed… Why the hell would I pass that up?"

Melissa eyes me, "The only reason I believe you is that you'll have even less time with me in bed this weekend."

"I'll probably be too busy trying to keep up with Butch and Cassidy anyway to give it much thought." I smile and then add around a mouthful of cereal, "Long term planning was never a strong point of mine."

Melissa smiles and takes a seat next to me. "Yeah, you're obviously the type that flies by the seat of his pants. Well, when you are the one wearing the pants anyway."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Melissa just smiles and gives me a kiss on the cheek before getting up and walking away. "Think about it."

I turn around in my seat, "No really, what are you talking about?"

Melissa just laughs and leaves me wondering what I missed.

A loud honking outside alerts me and Butch to the fact that the carpool is here. We both hop to our feet and race to the front door where Melissa and Cassidy are already waiting with Butch's backpack. Cassidy goes to open the door but I grab the handle real quick, "Not yet. Hugs."

Cassidy flies into my arms and hugs me, then Butch jumps up and nearly knocks me over with his hug. I laugh and set them both down, "Alright, have fun."

I open the door and they both sprint to the van at the curb. I smile and close the door. "Now where were we?"

Melissa smiles, "I believe you were about to take me forcefully from behind in our bedroom."

I smile and wrap my arms around her, moving us towards the living room, "Are you sure? Cause I was pretty sure I was about to hammer you on the couch."

Melissa frowns, "But what if the kids forgot something?"

"Then we were just wrestling."

"Naked?"

"Yes."

"No." Melissa says, her eyes glowing. The lock on the front door clicks and Melissa smiles, "Okay, now we can do this on the couch."

I grin and she psychically tosses me across the room onto the couch. The throw pillows go flying and not long after so do our clothes. Crawling over top of me Melissa gives me a predatory grin before seating herself on my chest with her knees on my arms. She reaches up and begins to fondle her full, perky breasts as her tail reaches back to tenderly stroke my shaft to full erectness. With a purr she slowly slides her crotch down my chest, leaning forwards to slowly bury my face in her cleavage. Melissa giggles, stopping as my cock brushes her entrance. I try to lift my arms to pull Melissa down the rest of the way but she has my entire body on lockdown.

"What's the magic word?" Melissa asks with another giggle.

"Please?" I ask, my voice muffled by her incredibly soft cleavage that she is gently rubbing against my face.

"Please what?"

"Please, Mistress, pleeeeeease."

"Alright. But only because you asked nicely." Melissa purrs as she starts to ease my member into her hot passage.

Suddenly an ice cold shock shoots through my entire body and I bolt upright with shout of surprise. To my right I hear a familiar cackle and I turn to glare at Gin as he laughs his ass off, a large bucket in one hand until he tumbles off of the bed. I throw off the soaking wet bed sheets, the dream completely torn out of my reach. "What the hell?"

"You looked like you could use a cold shower." Gin laughs, picking up the bucket. "So I did my best to oblige."

"I am going to murder you!" I shout, diving off the bed. Gin ducks underneath me and I slide across the floor to crash into the wall with a loud thud. However, I'm back on my feet in less than a second and running after him as he takes off down the hall.

"What the hell happened to you two?" Melissa asks as Gin and I stumble into the kitchen, smelling like a mix of the sea and wet mightyena.

"He threw me in the ocean." Gin grumbles as he trudges over to a seat and collapses in it.

"And then I had to swim out and get him when I remembered he can't swim worth shit." I add as I collapse in the seat next to Gin's.

"But the ocean habitat is only fifteen feet deep. And like twenty feet at most to the shallows. He should have been able to walk out no problem. Even if he has all the aquatic grace of a geodude." Melissa stares at us.

"Not that one. The REAL ocean." Gin groans.

Melissa glance at her watch, "It's just 7:30. The ocean is several miles from here."

"Gin's really fast." I sigh, "We were up early, and as I'm sure you know, I had a perfectly legitimate reason to chase him all the way there."

"Actually, I have no idea why you would do that." Melissa says throwing some coffee grounds in the percolator.

"Our dream? The one with the kids and the couch?" I frown

Both Gin and Melissa stare at me as they ask in unison, "_Kids_?"

"It was your dream." I chuckle, then my face begins to heat up as Melissa continues to stare at me blankly. "You mean we didn't share a dream last night?"

Melissa shakes her head slowly, before slowly replying, "Noooo, you were most definitely not in my dream. It had to do with Oreos, and rocket ships."

There is absolute silence for a moment and I can feel my face flushing in embarrassment. Gin is the first to find his voice, but he only repeats the earlier question, "Kids?"

Rubbing the back of my neck I nod, "Well yeah."

"They better not have anything to do with that huge boner you were sporting this morning." Gin says while giving me a weird look.

"What? NO!" I exclaim, shoving him, "The boner was completely Melissa's fault. Well, I guess not technically Melissa, since it was actually an imaginary future projection of Melissa by my subconscious. But the boner was completely unrelated to our kids."

"Our kids?" Melissa eyes me strangely.

"No, mine and Richard's kids." I roll my eyes. "Yes, yours and mine. There were two of them, a little riolu hybrid and a mew hybrid. Their names were Butch and Cassidy. Are you sure it wasn't your dream? Cause I _never_ have good dreams. They are always bleak, bland, or awful,"

Melissa slowly takes a seat across the table from me. "Tell me more. All of it."

"Well, it started with me waking up and you were all mopey about having put on a bunch of weight during the pregnancy and still not having gotten rid of it a couple years later, and you immediately blamed me."

"Well that should have been the first sign I had nothing to do with the dream." Melissa smirks, "Because there is no way in hell I would let myself get fat for any reason. At the very least I'd have worked it all off in well under a couple years."

I shrug, "Well, I didn't think about that at the time. I was more focused on making 'you' feel better."

"Lemme guess, you used sex."

"Well, yes, but only after trying a logic based approach using mostly truthful statements."

"Mostly truthful statements?" Melissa raises an eyebrow, "Like what?"

"That your increase in girth proved I was an excellent provider, the fact that the weight was caused by me knocking you up meant I had bragging rights about my… potency, and that while I certainly don't mind about a few inches being added to your waistline, I loved that it had added a few inches to your bust."

Melissa's somewhat slack jawed expression is my first cue that I said something wrong just now. Next to me Gin busts out laughing, nearly falling out of his seat as I turn nearly the same shade of pink as Melissa.

"Is that really what you think?" Melissa asks, her expression suddenly blank.

"Um, about which part?" I ask, chuckling nervously.

"All of it."

"Well, I don't think I'd ever actually brag about being able to get anyone pregnant."

"Do you really think my boobs are too small?" Melissa rolls her eyes, "Do you wish I had a massive pair like Toni?"

"No!" I exclaim quickly, but Melissa gives me a look as if to remind me that she can read my mind, "Yes. Maybe? Wait, we've already been over this, Toni doesn't have tits." Gin is rolling on the floor laughing as Melissa continues to just give me 'a look'. "Those are fake tits. I don't like fake tits. I love your tits." I pause and take a deep breath, I'm certain my face is probably beet red by now. "Did I mention that it wasn't your body that I fell in love with? Cause I also told you that in the dream."

Melissa chuckles and leans forwards to rest her elbows on the table as she steeples her fingers in front of her mouth, "Oh? Tell me more. Just remember that I can tell if you are lying."

I shut my eyes and rub my temples as I try to remember exactly what I said in the dream, "'It was your spirit and fierce attitude. You don't back down from a fight, but you also know how to pick your fights. I've yet to encounter another female that has impressed me like you have. I doubt I will either. Unless you stop being you, I'm not going anywhere.' Is what I told you in the dream." Opening my eyes and smile, "What I didn't say then is that you are also really fun to hang out with, you're smart, you are independent, and have strong beliefs that you hold on to. Which is why I love you, in spite of your temper and weird vegan thing."

"An excellent recovery." Melissa chuckles, "So what sort of sex did we have?"

"Well," I glance over at Gin who is suddenly quiet and attentive again. "Gin you are such a pervert. We never actually had sex. We were interrupted by our kids getting in a fight over the cereal." Melissa's eyebrows lift and she smirks, but doesn't say anything. "You dealt with that problem while I got rid of my boner. Then our daughter complained that she didn't want to go to school because her teacher told her she wasn't allowed to fly. She was a mew hybrid like you. I told her I would talk to her teacher about letting her float during recess. This got our son, a riolu hybrid, upset because he wasn't allowed to use any of his pokémon abilities at school, since he would probably pick more fights than he already did. To get his mind off of that I told him we were gonna go visit your grandparents, where Gin Crystal and Rogue were living and I'd take him to the training fields. They left for school and I convinced you to go back to having sex on the couch." I glare at Gin, "And just before the fun could really start, my brother dumped a bucket of ice water on me."

"You are so weird."

I turn back to Melissa who is shaking her head, "What?"

"You consider that a good dream? Having a fat wife and kids that interrupt your trying to have sex?"

"Yeah." I shrug, "Why wouldn't I consider that a good thing?

"Why?" Melissa gestures to me and Gin, "You grew up in the woods, with superhuman abilities and no real responsibility. Every day was excitement and adventure. You would give that up to move into a town, have kids, and live a normal human life? Especially if your wife let herself get fat and ugly?"

"Of course." I climb back to my feet and pour myself a cup of coffee.

Melissa and Gin stare at me with matching expressions of incredulity. Then Gin snickers, "Well, you know what they say, 'Fat wife, happy life.'"

Melissa rolls her eyes, "That is so lame."

I frown, "What?"

"That is such a lame dream." Melissa laughs.

Gin shakes his head, "Dude, except for the sex part there was nothing worth remembering."

I take a long hard swallow of black coffee, and the hot, bitter liquid burns all the way down my throat to add to the rapidly growing heat in my chest. I take a deep breath as Melissa and Gin continue to laugh, I grit my teeth and toss my mug into the sink. "You know what. You're right. It was a stupid dream. Just forget that I ever brought it up."

Melissa and Gin look up at me in surprise as I turn and walk over to the sliding glass door and throw it open. "Where are you going?"

"I need some air." I reply before using extreme speed to put as much distance between myself and the house as I can.

I don't really pay attention to where I go after I leave the house, but without really meaning to I find my way to a secluded part of a public park across town from Melissa's place. It's Saturday and the weather is absolutely beautiful making it a perfect day for going to the park. However, it's still early so there isn't really anyone around, which is good because it means I can meditate easily and without drawing unwanted attention to myself. I hadn't put my hair back up in a braid yet this morning so it was still hanging loose about my face. I pull my long hair back behind my ears and take a deep breath. I utilize Calm Mind to quickly clear my emotions and bring a greater clarity of thought. Going into wave sight I focus on the space directly around me and also on myself. The image that greets me is a strange one, Gin once described it as an inverted darkrai and it isn't far from the truth.

A white darkrai is superimposed over my own midnight-blue physical aura, my right eye glows a bright yellow and black smoke seems to rise from my head. However, as I focus on carefully manipulating my energies, the darkrai is pulled into my body and slowly vanishes. I open my eyes, and take another deep breath and bring my hands together in front of me. As I slowly pull my hands apart, a small sphere of water condenses out of the air in front of me. The sphere grows and splits into two to follow my open palms as I slowly manipulate the floating liquid, guiding them through the air and slowly turning them into long streams of water that flow around me. More spheres form and begin to stream around me as I slowly begin to move, my footsteps tracing a series of interlocking circles in the ground. Before long it looks like I am surrounded by nearly a dozen of these liquid ribbons.

Suddenly I throw my arms out straight to the sides and the ribbons swirl around my arms to form a rapidly swirling vortex around my outstretched limbs. Swinging them both around to point directly ahead of me I unleash a rapid fire barrage of water orbs. The powerful Water Pulse attack blasts chunks out of a thick oak tree that is unfortunate enough to be in front of me and I smile, breathing hard from the mental and physical strain of holding such tight control over the elemental attack.

Just like the Aura Sphere, many of the attacks that are available to lucarios can be tightly controlled and focused into a much more powerful form through a process of kinetic meditation. When the energies of the body and mind are aligned perfectly, the power of an attack is boosted massively. It is actually the same principle that Swords Dance works on. The movements for each attack are different, and are mostly discovered although they can be taught.

Shaking out my arms I get ready for my favorite kinetic meditation, Dark Pulse. Over the past couple of years I've tried to figure out how the pokémon elements work, especially the psychic-fighting-dark type triangle. The psychic and fighting type energies were fairly simple. Fighting type was centered in the physical body. It is the manipulation of the energies of physical existence. Psychic on the other hand was centered in the mind. The purified essence of the consciousness applying itself to the physical world. These two types mixed to create the power of aura, which explains why some lucarios can learn Psychic in spite of their Steel/Fighting typing.

But what about Dark types? How could they be completely immune to the power of the mind and conscious spirit? The answer came to me while I worked on my kinetic meditation for Dark Pulse. A simple Dark Pulse attack involves the manipulation of anger and ill will. Violent _emotions_. That was when it clicked for me. The mind controls the body, thus psychic types have power over fighting types. However, the heart, the seat of emotion, rules the mind. So, Dark types have power over psychic types. Through control of the body one can tame their emotions, and thus the cycle is complete with the Fighting type having power over the Dark type.

Kinetic meditation works by reflecting the nature of the element in the motions of the body and the state of the mind. Water flows, so when working with that element you use flowing motions. Dark type is emotion. Emotions are violent, they swing forcefully from one extreme to the next. The heart is chaotic, as tumultuous as a storm tossed sea. This makes dark type energy very difficult to control, so how could you possibly focus it? The answer is that you don't. Dark type energy constantly seeks release, you must let it go, release yourself to control by your emotions.

I close my eyes and allow my mind to relax, not caring where it roams. Very quickly it floats back to this morning, and the conversation in the kitchen. I can feel my heart begin to beat faster, turmoil beginning to bubble up in my chest, and I lightly give that feeling a 'push' and it flows out of my chest and into the air in front of me. Opening my eyes I find a small black flame hanging in the space in front of me, the distillation of my anger from this morning. I begin to run as my mind quickly jumps from memory to memory and I quickly lose myself in them as my body moves on autopilot.

I am taken back to when we had really only just begun to live in the woods. I had been searching for something tasty to eat when I heard voices ahead of me. They were pokémon voices and I had not yet gained understanding of what they said. However, it wasn't hard for me to know that the speakers were happy, and that one was much older than the other.

I quietly snuck through the underbrush until I could see them. They were a pair of Gardevoir, a male and a female based on the pitch of their voices, and a kirlia whose gender I wasn't sure of. They were playing happily in a mud puddle of all things. Mud was splattered all over their 'dresses' and they were clearly enjoying themselves. To be more specific they were enjoying each other, and together they were making castles from the dirt with their hands and telekinesis. It hurt me to see this, because I had done that too, with my own parents, back before cancer and that witch had stolen both of them from me.

MY anger and jealousy from that time both pour into the flame that burns in my chest and the black flame grows in size and begins to dance around me as if it has a life of its own. I begin to imitate the motions of the flame, kicking off a tree trunk into a twisting back flip. I land a tad awkwardly but quickly throw myself into a tumble, launching myself back into the air as I slide into another memory.

"You worthless piece of shit!" My mother's replacement shouted at me as I sat in the living room, already crying over having gotten in a fight with an older boy and having my ass handed to me. "You pick a fight with another kid and don't even have the balls to back it up."

"But I didn't-"

"Shut up!" she shouted, slapping me across the face. It stung, especially since my face was already tender from the other kid slamming me against a metal pole. "You are weak and will never be worth two shits to anyone."

I knew it was a lie. I had meant something to Mother, and I meant something to Rogue. I had thought I meant something to Father, but he just sat across the room with his face hidden behind a newspaper, doing nothing. He had betrayed me and Mother by bringing this bitch into our house. He wasn't family. He didn't deserve to be called 'Father'.

My hatred for that woman, the pain of losing Mother, the anger at my father, all of it pours into the black flame and it suddenly surges to engulf me, completely surrounding me as I whirl through the air. I land in a crouch and throw myself into the air again, flinging the dark energies away from me in a large sickle shaped wave of black fire. The attack rockets downwards to cut deep into a large pine tree. As I land, the attack detonates and the tree snaps, tumbling my way. Letting loose a profanity I dive out of the way, narrowly avoiding the falling tree. A couple of the limbs scratch at my back, but other than that I am unharmed. I sigh and stretch, Dark Pulse always leaves me feeling fresher and calmer. The best I can figure, some of your actual negative emotion leaves with the Dark Pulse, leaving you feeling slightly more positive.

Glancing back at the tree I toppled I scratch my head, the tree was a couple feet across, and it had been nearly completely severed by the Dark Pulse near the base. I was angry, about a number of things, but I didn't think I had worked up _that_ much negative chi even with the effects from using Calm Mind. I glance around, and quickly make my way away from the scene. I doubt there was anyway someone could pin the damage on me, but I wasn't about to take any chances.

Making my way back towards Melissa's place I find myself in a playground. Figuring that this is as good a place as any to relax, I take seat on a bench. Reaching into a pocket I pull out one of the hair bands I've been 'borrowing' from Melissa these past couple of weeks. I quickly pull my hair back into a pony tail so that it looks slightly less frazzled than it did immediately after my kinetic meditation session. The weather was beautiful out and I knew it wouldn't be long before someone came along. I was not disappointed.

A small girl suddenly sprinted across to the swing set along with her vulpix companion. They probably weren't too different in age, relatively speaking, since the vulpix only had two tails and not the six that a fully grown vulpix would have. As soon as the girl was seated, the vulpix jumped up into her tiny lap. She begins to swing herself back and forth as a man, presumably her father, walks up behind her and begins to push her higher and higher.

"Hey there cutie."

I nearly jump out of my skin as a woman in torn up jeans and a black vest drops down on the bench right next to me. She flicks her head to flip her pink hair back out of her eyes, "Watching little children like a pervert, I see."

"What? No!" I exclaim quickly, I begin gesturing at the girl with her vulpix, "They just are so happy, and it makes me feel good to be around people who are happy."

The woman laughs, her head tilting back as she does, giving me a good view of her unusually sharp canines, "I'm just kidding. You don't need to be so uptight."

I smile half heartedly, "Oh, sorry."

She punches me in the shoulder, "I thought I told you not to be uptight? It makes you less cute." She smiles and extends a hand, "Name's Kat by the way. What's yours?"

"Dante." I reply with a smile, shaking her hand as I give her a lopsided grin. "Are you here to watch happy people too?"

"Noooo, I'm here because I was following you." She grins a tad predatorily, "Those were some pretty sweet moves earlier."

Oh shit. "You saw those?"

"Oh yeah, kinetic meditation right? Like one of those lucario partnered monks over in Sinnoh. But none of them are anywhere near as powerful as you. And you look way younger than any of them." She scoots even closer, practically in my lap, and I can't help but notice from glancing down her shirt that she is very flat chested. "_Focus_. I swear, the first thing on any male's mind when a girl gets close to them is her tits."

My eyes immediately return to her face, my own turning a tad pink from embarrassment. "Sorry."

"I'm not." She grins, "But in all seriousness, you don't have to worry about me busting you," her voice drops to a whisper for a moment, "_Runaway_. I think this world needs more interesting people in it anyway. Life would be boring without people like you to liven things up. Think you might be interested in livening mine up even more?"

"I'm afraid he's already taken." I look up to find Melissa standing over Kat and myself. Double oh shit.

Kat just smirks as she looks Melissa over. "Looks like I was right about you not liking little girls." She straightens up and extends a hand to Melissa, "Name's Kat. What's yours?" Melissa just glares at her. "Or don't tell me your name. I'll just call you Vespiqueen, or Vespi for short. It matches your huge butt."

I stare at Kat, horrified, then confused as I feel a firm telekinetic force pass over me. However, Kat just smiles, and brushes a black tipped lock back behind an ear as she stands up. "No need to get feisty, Vespi."

Kat walks around the bench and walks around Melissa once, eyeing her up and down. She dances out of reach of Melissa's tail with a giggle as it tries to lash her, "Well, I certainly approve of your choice Dante. She's quite a catch, if you're an assman anyway."

I leap to my feet as Melissa takes a step towards Kat. "Are you trying to get yourself killed, Kat? She has something of a temper and she does not have her powers under full control when she's angry."

"I know, she's already tried to blast me once." Kat makes a face at Melissa, "You might want to work on that Psychic attack, sweetie, you barely messed my hair up."

"How about I try Hyperbeam next?" Melissa snarls, raising a palm towards Kat, a small sphere of white energy forming there.

Kat's eyes widen and she holds her hands up, "Hey, hey, hey! I'm only messing with you. No need to get nasty." She giggles and waves, "You certainly like to surround yourself with feisty females Dante. I'll be going now, but I'm sure we'll cross paths again." She blows me a kiss then sticks her tongue out at Melissa, "That goes for you too Vespi."

I shake my head and chuckle, then laugh out loud. I almost had a Kat fight on my hands!

Slap!

"Ow!" I exclaim holding my cheek.

"That isn't funny."

A good bit of this morning's anger rushes back in and I glare at Melissa. "You have no place to talk in what is and isn't funny with me right now. None whatsoever."

"Excuse me?"

"Did I stutter?" I start walking back in the direction of the house, which happens to be in the opposite direction that Kat took. Thankfully.

"You know I don't like being referred to as a pokémon. It's usually disrespectful." Melissa grabs me by the shoulder.

I whirl around and grab hold of her wrist, "And it is **ALWAYS** disrespectful to laugh at someone's dreams and call them 'lame'." A brief flash of black flame runs up my arm, but I manage to stop it just short of reaching Melissa's hand, "When I piss on _your_ dreams for the future, then you can slap me over a little pun on someone's name." I release her hand and take a step back, "But until then, I would appreciate you not overreacting so easily. Kat was teasing you and trying to get a rise out of you, and you let her play you like a fiddle. If you really need to take out your anger at someone, we can head to the training grounds and you can have a match against a pokémon, but do not take it out on me. I have zero patience for that right now."

Crossing my arms over my chest I wait a few moments as Melissa stares at me wide eyed, "Well? What will it be? Are you going to go to the training fields or are you gonna be a good girl and keep your hands to yourself?"

"Did you nearly just hit me with a dark pulse?"

I sigh, "Sometimes when I get _really_ upset a Dark pulse will manifest on its own. It won't always 'fire' off of me, but it can still damage things I am touching."

"And you're this pissed because I said your dream was lame?" Melissa asks slowly

I tilt my head to the side, "I do believe that is what I said, yes."

"When I dream, it's just a fun experience with silly random junk thrown together by my subconscious. It doesn't actually mean anything." Melissa frowns, "But yours actually mean something?"

I take a deep breath and let it out real slow before I return to the bench and sit down, "For as long as I can remember my dreams have come in three kinds. The first is the most mundane, I find myself standing in a massive grey expanse of nothing. Nothing but grey, flat, space for as far as the eye can see. The second type is only a little better. I wake up in a city devoid of people. No cars, no trash, no bikes, and nothing to show that it was ever inhabited. Every room is empty of anything that might indicate it was ever occupied. It is an entire city built by no one for no one. The third type are nightmares, they start as bad memories and then turn into a living hell I don't always wake from easily. Frequently I wake from these actually in pain they are so realistic."

"But this one wasn't any of those." Melissa says quietly.

"No, it was like everything I wanted had been given to me." I grumble, "I had a family and was giving them everything that was taken from me." Melissa is silent for a moment and I glance over at the girl on the swing, still happily playing with her father. "Why do you think I ran away from home?"

"I assumed it was adventure." Melissa says quietly as she takes a seat next to me.

"No, it was because home was no longer home for me." I shake my head, "My mother had been replaced by a woman who never missed an opportunity to tell me how much she hated me or how worthless I was. My _father_ was the one who brought her into my life and he never did anything to oppose her or try to make it up to me in any way. Rogue and I left there because we were family, and we were obviously not welcome in the place that we had called home. We packed our stuff and planned our escape." I turn to Melissa, "We cut our ties with that place and never looked back."

Melissa is silent for a long time, and I turn back to watching the girl and her father who have gone from swinging to playing tag on the playground equipment. Melissa follows my gaze and watches the trio with me for a bit. Finally she speaks, "Most people our age, they dream of becoming celebrities, rich, the best there ever was, or having awesome jobs like being an astronaut or something. None of that interests you?"

"Not really." I shrug, "I already am a celebrity, or at least an infamous individual, and I was the richest guy in the woods, had all the bells and whistles at our place that made some pokémon jealous, and judging from Kat's comment about me being way more powerful than even the monks over in Sinnoh that spend a lifetime training to use Aura alongside lucarios I'm probably already pretty close to 'the best, like no one ever was'. And like I said this morning, I'd give all that up to make my dream a reality."

Melissa shakes her head, and chuckles. I turn and eye her, she smiles, "Most guys your age would be scared shitless of the prospect of having kids. You look forwards to it."

A small smile finds its way to my face and I chuckle, "I didn't say I wasn't scared. I'm absolutely terrified that I might not have what it takes to be a good dad and husband. But nothing excites me more than the idea of being just that, a dad and a husband. Becoming a 'family man' is one of the most demanding and exciting adventures I can think of, and one that I would be happy to go on with you. Assuming you can respect that dream of course."

With a nod Melissa smiles, "That's an awesome dream, a bit strange for someone our age, but like you said, you've already done just about everything else. I bet you're even more pissed about Gin waking you from that dream now that you know it was yours alone."

"Nah, I'd say we're probably about even." I chuckle, "Besides, I get the feeling that it won't be my last good dream on my own." Rising from the bench I smile, holding my hand out to Melissa. She takes it and I pull her up onto her feet. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Rogue has paralyzed Gin by now, so we should get back before Crystal takes too much advantage of him. Like using him as a surfboard or something like that."

Melissa shakes her head, "You're probably right. But why and how would Rogue paralyze him?"

"She knows Thunder Fang." I chuckle, "And she actually knows about my whole 'family' shtick."

Melissa smiles, "I'm surprised he didn't know about it too."

"It never really came up." I shrug, "And he's not the best at understanding people. Which is why he still hasn't figured out that Crystal has him figured out completely, and is absolutely into him. He thinks it's just because she likes yellow things or something."

"Well, it is one of her favorite colors."

"That does not explain her obsession with the glass lucario figurine she made." I laugh, "I thought she was gonna throw me out the window when I accidentally knocked it over one day."

"Wouldn't be the first time she's done something like that."

"I believe it."

"Okay, that's a little disturbing."

"It's certainly new." Melissa agrees with a nod.

"Where did she even get that much paper maché?"

"Who cares! Just get me down from here!" Gin exclaims from the bathroom ceiling where he has been plastered to the ceiling like something out of a scifi horror movie. His limbs are all encased in paper maché, and his back is also glued to the ceiling.

"It's just paper." I chuckle, "Rip yourself out."

Gin struggles briefly, but nothing happens. "I think she reinforced it somehow. I can't move an inch."

"Then burn it." I shrug.

"With what?"

"Aura?" Melissa suggests, "If Danny can damage stuff on accident with a Dark Pulse, I'm pretty sure you could manage to melt some paper with some fighting type energy."

Gin rolls his eyes and shuts them. Almost immediately blue flames of aura engulf him. The paper mache begins to blacken and peel, then suddenly it falls apart all together.

CRASH!

"Ow."

I fight to keep a straight face as Gin climbs to his feet and Melissa does too. About a half dozen little heart shaped patches of fur are missing from his back. I glance up to see a couple patches of fur still up there, but not as many as are missing from his back. "Did Crystal shave you?"

"It's possible." Gin replies with a groan as he lifts himself off the tile. The tile where his chest spike hit is shattered, unfortunately for us. Gin follows my gaze to the broken tile, and then looks back at me, "That wasn't our fault, right? Crystal put me up there and it was Melissa's idea that made me fall? So it's not our fault."

Melisa laughs, "It's just a tile, I'm sure my dad can fix it, no problem. What are you worried about?"

"Rogue." Gin and I reply in unison.

Melissa snickers, "She runs your little group with an iron paw doesn't she?"

"Absolutely." Rogue says from the bathroom door, she snickers, "But I'm gonna let this one slide. Especially since Crystal was acting out some sort of scifi horror movie with him stuck to the ceiling. Look behind the toilet."

I reach behind the toilet and pull out a paper maché and wire… thing. It kinda resembles a cross between a spider and a pair of hands, except it has a tail and something that kinda looks like a penis coming out of the body. The 'penis' thing is actually a little wet. I look at Gin, "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know, one moment I'm telling Rogue about your dream, then next I'm waking up plastered to the ceiling like a goddamn kakuna." Gin says holding up his hands, then slowly he starts to look a little ill. "And my throat is sore."

We all stare at the thing, and the wet part especially. Rogue coughs, "It is exactly what you think."

Melissa shakes her head, "I am so, so sorry."

"I'm…." Gin shakes his head, looking more than just a little ill now. Suddenly I have to leap out of the way as Gin lunges towards the toilet and loses his breakfast. I glance down at the mess in the toilet and frown, "Hey, Melissa do you have any eggs in the fridge downstairs?"

"No, we don't have any eggs. Why would you… oh my god." Melissa stares with us at the trio of pidgey eggs with hearts drawn on them sitting in the toilet bowl along with Gin's breakfast. "That's it, she's going in the box."

Melissa hurries out of the bathroom and Rogue walks over to look into the bowl. "That's kinda fucked up. And she actually likes you. Imagine what she would do to someone she _didn't_ like."

With a shudder I leave the bathroom, I don't want to think about it.

Turns out the box Melissa referred to is actually a large cardboard box with a grey mesh all around it. Watching the box carefully, I slowly spread some peanut butter on a piece of toast, "So how do we know that she is still in there? Can't she teleport out of that?"

"Noooo." Crystal answers morosely from inside the box.

"That mesh has dark type properties." Melissa says as she tosses a salad. "I don't know how they make it but it blocks the psychic abilities of most pokémon unless they have truly monstrous amounts of psychic power, or know ways around the dark type immunity. She can't read minds or 'see' to teleport out. Not so long as that mesh stays around her. I use it for her time outs. For you or me it would be like locking you in a sound proof, lightless cell. She can still hear audible stuff, as I'm sure you gathered, but everything else is nullified."

"Okay. I still don't get why she would tube feed Gin eggs with a…. whatever that thing was."

"I want him to have my babies!" Crystal exclaims from inside the box.

I stare at the box for a moment then look at Melissa who is palming her face. "First off, that is not how that sort of thing works and you know it!" Melissa exclaims before turning to me. "That little thing you found is a homemade model of an alien she saw in a movie once. That thing lays its eggs in somebody and a day or so later, maybe less, a little baby alien monster explodes out of their chest."

I glance at the box, "You know, if you are trying to send him the message that you like him, you're doing it all wrong. You scare the hell out of him, especially now. I'd try more soup and less egg. He actually likes your soup, and I don't think he is ever gonna eat eggs again."

"Oh."

Rogue sighs, "Gin has the _worst_ luck with courting." I nod, taking a bite of toast.

"What do you mean by that?" Melissa asks with a frown.

"Well, look at him." Rogue says gesturing with a paw, "He has, what was it called, 'Shiny' fur colors. That's the first strike against him."

The expression on Melissa's face tells me she obviously doesn't get it. "Most pokémon with that sort of fur pattern have serious deformities or disabilities. It kills off the majority of them." I explain, "As a result, any pokémon that survive, or are lucky enough to not have problems like in Gin's case, get shunned by other pokémon. It pretty much nullifies their chances of getting a mate out in the wild."

"Oh." Melissa glances at the stairs, Gin still hasn't come downstairs since he got free from the ceiling.

"Wait, it gets worse." I shake my head.

"How could it get worse?"

"Someone actually took an interest in him." Rogue growls, "Some absol bitch started acting all sweet on him. He was thrilled, we all were. Cause none of us were expecting it."

"Except she didn't actually love him." I continue, "She was only trying to piss off her prior boyfriend, and make her actual interest jealous. It worked, and once Gin had served her purpose she discarded him like an apple core."

"That's horrible." Melissa says quietly.

"Gin was crushed. He has completely given up on love." Rogue says, then looks at me, "And it took both of us to save her from Danny. He nearly killed her."

Melissa looks at me with a strange expression. "You did?"

"Remember before Richard's place? I told you I hold the courtship process sacred? She violated that sacredness in a major way." I take another bite of toast.

"So you nearly killed her for that?"

"No." I shake my head, "I nearly killed her because nobody fucks with my family."

"He broke off her horn and beat the everloving shit out of her. Broke a bunch of bones." Rogue says flatly.

"Broke twenty one ribs, her jaw, and all the bones in three of her legs. I don't know how her feet fared" I finish off my peanut butter toast.

"Goddamn." Melissa stares at me,

"Nobody fucks with my family. I was too weak to do anything about it when my father ruined ours, but now I'm stronger. As long as I'm breathing, nobody will get away with screwing with the ones I love." I wipe my lips with a napkin. "I'm pretty sure that if anybody did something like that to you, Gile would do the same." I chuckle, "I mean he threatened to eat me if I so much as made you cry." I pause, I 'm pretty sure I hear something like crying. "Speaking of crying… do any of you hear that?"

Melissa points at Crystal's box, which is definitely where the sound is coming from. I scoot over next to Melissa, and she leans close to me and whispers in my ear, "I think she is crying about Gin."

I stare at her box for a moment then walk over and crouch down next to it, "Hey Crystal. I got a plan."

"What for?" She asks, hiccupping quietly.

"We know you like Gin, and I want to help you actually get him to love you back."

Crystal is very quiet suddenly, and I can barely hear her hiccup. Finally she speaks again, "How?"

"Well, first off, stop with the strange physical versions of euphemisms and phrases. He doesn't get them, and you're only scaring him away."

"Well what am I supposed to do? Just say 'I love you'?"

"Right now I doubt he would believe you if you did. You need to go slow. Like I said earlier, fewer eggs, more soup." I chuckle, "And don't shave him. Do nice things. Make him some of that broccoli soup, give him candy, if he will let you touch him you can give him massages. Run any ideas you get by either Rogue, myself, or, if neither of us are here, Melissa. That way you don't scare him away with something crazy like you did today."

"Okay."

I carefully undo the knot that holds the mesh around the box. Carefully pulling the mesh down a bit I open the top of the box. Crystal looks up at me and wipes her eyes. I reach in and pick her up, she's surprisingly light, and set her on her feet outside of the box. She looks at all of us, then back at me, "I'm going to make some soup."

"Atta girl."I smile and pat her on the back.

Melissa walks over to me and pulls me out of the kitchen as Crystal starts to gather things for making soup. Once we are out of earshot she whispers, "What did you mean about physical versions of euphemisms?"

I chuckle, "Well, what clued me off was when she said she just wanted Gin to have her babies. I think she was trying to tell him that with the whole alien egg-laying thing she did. You know how she is always hogtying Gin? She ties him up in a knot?"

"Of course, but what does that mean?" Melissa asks me somewhat impatiently.

I laugh, "She wants to 'tie the knot' with him!"

Melissa stares at me for a moment with a blank expression. Then, it's as if a light suddenly clicks on and she slaps her forehead, "Good grief! You're right!"

"Yeah, and there is no way this side of hell that Gin was going to figure that out." I laugh, shaking my head.

"Hell, I couldn't figure that out and I've practically raised Crystal." Melissa rolls her eyes, "I just figured she was trying to keep him in one place."

"Me too!" I laugh. I slowly stop laughing when I see the steely, determined look on Melissa's face. "What?"

"Romance 101 starts now."

"What?" I repeat, now even more baffled. Instead of answering, Melissa turns and marches back into the kitchen. I follow not far behind, more than a tad curious.

Melissa begins to work over a touch screen on the wall that controls the lights. Looking up from her vegetable chopping, Crystal turns and looks at us. Noticing her looking at us, Melissa grins, "I'm just putting on something to try and help you with figuring out the whole romance things."

"You mean turning the lights down low?" I ask curiously.

"This controls more than just lights." Melissa hits a couple last 'buttons' on the touch screen and a few soft chords fill the kitchen, "It also controls music."

Crystal smiles, rocking slightly in time to the music as a love song that I do not recognize begins to play. Of course the fact that I don't know it means pretty much nothing, having spent nearly half my life in the woods and all that. However, it is very soothing and I take a seat. I shut my eyes and hum along as the song continues and eventually ends. As I hear the beginning guitar intro of the next song my eyes fly open, I actually know this song! I stand up as the first verse begins, singing along as I do.

"Seems to matter what I do, so I'm saving this for you  
Cos it seems to be the last piece there is  
And you haven't had a chance yet to taste this  
Fragments of a life you shouldn't miss."

With a grin I pull Melissa away from the control panel and lead her a tad clumsily into a slowly turning dance on the kitchen floor, still continuing to sing along. 

"Seems to matter what I say, so I'll hold my tongue at bay  
And rather use my mouth to kiss your frown away  
So your doubts no longer darken your day  
So you can hold your head up high come what may 

So please remember that I'm gonna follow through all the way 

Cos it seems to matter where I go, I will always let you know  
That the place where I am is never far  
You know, you're not alone, don't be alarmed  
I'll find you no matter where you are 

So please remember that I'm gonna follow through all the way 

Oh my love, if it's all I can do, I'll take the fall for you  
Cos I will soar when I lay down with you and give my all for you"

The last strains of the song come to a close and I release Melissa, stepping back with a smile. Melissa stares at me with a strange expression, one that is a mixture of bafflement and satisfaction. "Where the hell did that come from?"

With a chuckle I shrug, "Just felt like it."

"'Just felt like it' my ass!" Melissa laughs, "Where exactly did you learn that song?"

I smile, "My mother. It was our song, you know? When I was little she would put that on and we would dance all over the kitchen." I chuckle, "Well, she would dance, I mostly just got carried around."

"Well, who says you have to stop dancing now that the song is over?" Melissa grabs me by the hand and drags me into the living room where she begins drawing blinds and turning off lights so that the bright light of midday is dimmed to something more intimate. She then turns the same music that she left playing in the kitchen on in here with us.

I smile and wrap my arms around her, "I would like to apologize in advance for stepping all over your feet."

"Don't worry, I'm sure I'm gonna step on yours a few times too." She grins a bit evilly, "And I've got claws on mine, so watch your step."

I smile as we begin to rock back and forth, slowly beginning our dance, "Okay, but I'd much rather watch you."

We started slowly at first, just rocking in place for the most part. Then the music began to rise, and our energy rose with it. Soon we were practically prancing around the room, laughing and yelping as we stepped all over each other, sometimes stumbling but never letting go of one another.

Suddenly Melissa sweeps my legs out from under me and throws me backwards onto the couch. I hold tight to her and she comes tumbling after me. She laughs and falls into my lap. We sit there laughing for a bit, then Melissa slowly turns over so that we are face to face. She leans forward and shifts so that my face is nearly in her breasts.

I chuckle, "Is this supposed to be a hint?"

"Would you rather it be a demand?"

"Maaayyybe." I grin, reaching around to grab hold of her ass under her skirt. Melissa frowns as my fingers sink into her soft butt.

"Do I have a fat ass?" she asks, biting her lip a little.

I raise a brow, "You have a lovely ass." I give her a rough squeeze and she yelps a little, "It has a great balance of plushness and strength."

I pull her tightly to me so that my face is pressed against her chest and then pull her down so that I can nibble at her neck. She giggles as I start to undo the buttons of her blouse, "I thought you liked my boobs?"

"I like everything about you." I whisper as I slip her blouse off.

She grins and pulls my shirt up over my head, "Flatterer."

I just stick out my tongue at her and make a face, at least until she closes her lips around my tongue and brushes it with her own rough tongue. Before I know it, her tongue is exploring my mouth. I hear a quiet click and something falls into my lap before Melissa guides my hands to her now naked breasts. Gently playing with her perky breasts I slowly lay myself down on the couch, and Melissa eagerly takes the top position.

Breaking the kiss Melissa moans loudly as she drags her claws across my chest, more to turn me on than from anything I've done. And my god does it work. Between the moaning and the claws, well, my pants are feeling _way_ too tight. Melissa obviously takes notice of this and she smirks as she begins to toy with the waistband of my shorts.

She is just beginning to pull down my pants when the lights suddenly switch to full brightness and Melissa practically jumps out of my lap as I cover my eyes, briefly struck by a sense of déjà vu.

When I lower my hand I can see Melissa scrambling to cover herself as a tall, thin man with an unruly head of crimson hair stares at us with mixture of shock and confusion. Next to him is a much shorter woman with long platinum locks and eyes wide in horror.

The Cohens are home, and I am soooo dead.


	16. Chapter 16: Alibi

"And that pretty much brings us up to date." I finish with a nervous chuckle. During the entire tale from the forest fire to the couch he found me on, Melissa's father hasn't so much as blinked. He just keeps staring stonily across the kitchen table at me. Struggling to keep from fidgeting, I clear my throat, "So, uh, do you have any questions?"

"How did you come to possess that sword you use?"

I blink in surprise. That was _not_ one of the questions I was expecting to get. "Well, I took it from a man who tried to kill me."

"In other words you killed a man to get it." Mr. Cohen says as he leans forwards, the first reaction to my story so far, and not a positive one at that.

"Now wait just a second! I witnessed this guy brutally murder to other kids right in front of me!" I growl back, "And then when I disagreed with what he did he came after me! This wasn't some random guy I jumped in the woods! He came after me and my family and had all the same pokémon powers I did. If I could have just run away or just beat him I would have! It was self defense!"

Mr. Cohen rises to his feet and plants both palms on the table. "That didn't stop you from taking a trophy though, did it?"

"In the wild, the winner takes all." I snarl and stand up so that my own face is inches from his. I can feel my eyes tearing up a little as I remember the man's lover, how she had begged me to kill her after I took the only thing that made life livable for her. "You don't-"

"And that's how you got my daughter." Mr. Hamilton spits out in disgust, "Your spoils of war."

I stiffen and stand up straighten up in shock. "Were you not listening to a thing I just told you?!" I point to the living room where Melissa is sitting with her mother and probably listening to everything we say. "I did nothing to initiate a romantic relationship! I just saved her life and kept her safe. I promised to help her get back to some semblance of normal life! She initiated the romance part!"

Mr. Cohen straightens up as well and crosses his arms, "It's too convenient." He shakes his head, "Haven't you heard? There are no more heroes, no more Prince Charmings. Everybody has a motive. What do you get from this?"

"My entire life has been about helping others! This has nothing to do with me!"

"Bull shit." Mr. Cohen points at me, "This has everything to do with you. You have a lot to lose here. You are a wanted man, Runaway. What do you have to gain that is worth more than what you stand to lose by not scampering off to the wilderness again?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"You are taking advantage of my daughter!" Mr. Cohen' explodes, his face turning purple with rage and he slams a fist on the table, "You are a thief and a murderer! You found my daughter in a terribly vulnerable state, and are taking advantage of your position to get a kinky fuck!"

"That is such a load of tauros shit!" I shout back at him. I can feel my aura flaring, and I'm probably starting to glow, but both of us are too pissed to care.

"You know by now how obsessed my daughter was with you, and you are milking the situation for all you can get!"

We both glare at each other, the air between us literally crackling with energy. After a very tense silence I growl, "Hope."

"What?" Mr. Hamilton's eyes narrow, trying to understand my statement.

"You asked me what I get out of staying here. She gives me hope, and that's why I stayed."

"You've lost me." Mr. Cohen's rage is quickly replaced by confusion, "Explain that."

"The whole pokémon shtick I have going on was a grand adventure at first." I let out a sigh as I drop heavily back into my seat. "It was like I was some sort of superhero. I was just a kid and I had powers that most people only dream of."

"And you abused those powers heartily." Mr. Cohen comments, "Stealing all those pokémon."

"The parents, children, and mates I released them back to would say otherwise." I retort, "But all this really just means I'm nothing at all."

"That makes no sense at all."

I lean forwards and steeple my fingers in front of me, "It's like I'm a pokémon living in a human body. I lived in the pokémon world, but I could never really live as one of them. To humans I'm an abnormality or fantasy made flash. I'm a freak trapped between two worlds."

"So super powers aren't all they've been cracked up to be." Mr. Cohen sneers, "That's not my problem."

"You're right, but it is Melissa's problem now. " I sigh, and then a small smile creeps across my face. "I'm not alone anymore, Mr. Cohen. If we can find a place in this world, the human world, for her, then there may just be a place for me as well. That was what kept me here at first." I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You may not believe me, but I love your daughter, and she loves me. "

Mr. Cohen stares at me intently for a long time. Finally he slumps back down into his own chair with a sigh, "You are hard to read."

"Okay now it's my turn to be confused." I chuckle, "Come again?"

"You're mind." He gestures to his head, "Both Evelyn and I are psychics. Usually I can tell what someone is thinking, but your mind is almost completely closed to me. Are you a psychic too, in addition to all your other powers?"

"Pfft, no." I roll my eyes, "Melissa can get in there pretty much anytime she wants. Careless thoughts have gotten me in trouble more than once."

"Intense emotional bonds tend to nullify psychic resistance. Evelyn and I can't hide anything from each other." He smiles in spite of himself, "It could just be the pokémon aspect of Melissa's new form though."

I shrug, "Maybe."

"But regardless, what I can read of you says that you believe that what you say is true. Which makes this even harder for me." Mr. Cohen rolls his eyes. "It's not like I could stop her from following you if I did try and throw you out or turn you in."

"She is quite stubborn, isn't she?" I chuckle.

"Very." Mr. Cohen laughs, "I never wanted her to become a trainer. I told her that if she wanted to become a trainer she needed to raise all the money herself, and she did. By the time she was old enough to take the exams she had saved up nearly a thousand dollars."

]"That is a lot of lemonade stands." I smile and raise a brow.

"Among other things." Mr. Cohen chuckles and shakes head, "but that is neither here nor now. If you are going to stay you need to get a haircut."

"What?!" I nearly squawk in surprise, "Why?!"

"Your hair is one of your iconic attributes, and it is the only one that can be changed easily. I'm surprised someone hasn't recognized you and tried to turn you in." I do not tell him that one of the only people who actually know who I am I already threatened to dismember, and the other doesn't seem to care. "Regardless, if you live under my roof it will be by my rules."

"Wait, so I can stay?" I ask incredulously, "Just like that?"

"I don't really have much choice in the matter." Mr. Cohen pinches the bridge of his nose, "Like I said, if you go she goes. At least here I can make sure you two are behaving yourselves." 

I blush a little in spite of myself, "That was all Melissa's idea by the way."

"Hey!" Melissa exclaims from the door to the living room. "Don't you dare try to pin that all on me! You were the instigator at least half the time!"

"I don't care who was dragging who into bed!" Mr. Cohen shouts angrily, "Neither of you will be bedding the other until after there is a wedding with a mew on the cake!" He stabs a finger at me, "Now you, go get a haircut, and don't let Crystal give it to you!"

Melisa runs a paw across my naked scalp a few times, checking for any patches she might have missed. Satisfied with her job she nods and sets the razor down on the sink counter. "Alright, you can look now."

I turn and look at myself in the mirror and my jaw drops, "Holy shit."

I can barely recognize myself. I look down at my long braid lying on the floor like a dead ekans. I run my hands across my smooth scalp. "This is so surreal."

"It is a big shift." Melissa admits, but smiles, "Not a bad one though."

[Wow.] Rogue chuckles from the doorway, [I can't believe you actually went through with it.]

"Yeah, well, I didn't have much choice in the matter." It was the only thing I could still get rid of that identified me as the Runaway. Neither Gin nor my scars were going anywhere and I was already going about without my sword. I smile though, this new look isn't bad, and it is certainly more civilized looking. Melissa bends down and picks up my braid, wrapping the hair around one hand. I chuckle, "collecting souvenirs?"

"No." She retorts quickly, "Just cleaning up."

Her embarrassed expression says otherwise but I just smile and brush off my shoulders and leave the bathroom. As I turn the corner I nearly run into Mr. Cohen. He takes a step back and looks me over, "You clean up pretty well." He throws me a collared shirt, and jeans. "Meet me downstairs in the garage as soon as you get changed. We have some important business to attend to. Bring your mightyena."

He quickly turns and leaves me with new clothes and a confused expression on my face.

A couple minutes later, Mr. Cohen, Rogue, and I are driving along in Mr. Hamilton's SUV. I clear my throat nervously. "Just what sort of business are we attending to?"

"Getting you a new identity. Mr. Cohen grins, "And then we are going to immigration service to make you a citizen."

"What?!" I squawk, beginning to struggle with my seatbelt. I am not about to start messing around with a government that wants me in prison! "No way!"

Mr. Cohen reaches over and grabs my arm, getting a threatening growl from Rogue, but he ignores her and keeps his eyes on the road. His grip is surprisingly strong for the slender man that he is, not that I couldn't break away easily, but I do stop struggling.

"Do you want a place in this human world?" He glances at me and I nod.

"Of course, that's why I'm here still."

"Then you need a human identity." He pulls my arm away from the belt. "I know a man who makes a living making new identities."

"A forger?"

"And a hacker."

I frown as he releases my arm, but I don't try to get out again. Out of curiosity I ask, "Who will I be?"

Mr. Cohen just shrugs, "That's up to you. Just make sure you can remember your name."

I nod slowly, "How does someone like you know a forger?"

"He was the father of a pro bono client of mine." He smiles, "And he owes me a favor."

A couple hours later I am Daniel Vespers, a novice trainer from the Crucci Isles. I finger the ID, trainer card, and passport. They aren't lies, not completely anyway. I am from Crucci and my mother's maiden name was Vespers. Now comes the hard part. I look up at the customs and immigration's office doors in front of me. A small sign tells me that only service pokémon are allowed inside. I look back over my shoulder at Rogue before taking a deep breath and stepping inside through the sliding glass doors, right into a young woman. I step to the side quickly and nod my head, "S-sorry."

She just gives me a dirty look and hurries on. My hands shake as I glance around the room. All I see are gray walls and tired people. The haggard looking woman behind the front desk barely even glances at me as I check in. she just hands me a number and I join the silent crowd of waiters. I keep my head down as I wait for my number to come up on the screen across from me. Finally my number appears and I am lead back down a long plain hallway I stop just outside the door I was told to go to. A strange but familiar odor fills the air. It takes me a moment to realize that it is the smell of coconuts and coffee. I slowly open the door and I can't help but be surprised by what I find inside. "Hello darling!" A dark skin bubbles cheerily from behind a desk covered in scattered papers. A jolly fake palm tree sits in one corner and a massive bowl trying to pass as a coffee mug sits in the woman's dainty hands.

"Okay." I say slowly, and step inside. The door closes quietly behind me and I cautiously ease into the seat across the cluttered desk from the woman.

"If the décor surprises you I completely understand." She giggles, "I just like to keep a bit of home with me at work."

A few more butterfree take flight in my stomach as I try to smile, "Where exactly is home?"

"Crucci!" she grins, "Have you ever been there?"

Shit, this could complicate things. Crucci is not a huge island. It's just a few towns and a port city. My smile falters into a grimace briefly as I reply, "Born and raised."

I hope for a second that she didn't catch my lapse, but no such luck. "Is something wrong?"

My mind races as I try to find an answer besides the truth. But after a few seconds I sigh, "It's just I have a lot of painful memories of Crucci. I'm here to get away from there. To escape my past."

Her smile loses some of its wattage, "I'm sorry. Could I see your ID?"

I hand her my forged documents and glance at her name placard, Mrs. Honan. I don't recognize the name, but then again I was just ten and didn't know most people's names.

She looks at my card and her eyes light up, "Are you at all related to Rebekah Vespers?"

"Can't say that I …" I trail off as an old memory rises to the surface, "You mean Rebekah Cedar? The professor's wife? Yeah, I took her name to honor her memory, one of the few happy ones I have."

"That's the one! Were you a student of hers?"

Tears fill my eyes and for some reason I choke out, "She was my mother."

Mrs. Honan stares at me in shock, "Dante Cedar?"

I grin crookedly, wiping tears from my eyes, "In the flesh."

She stares at me for a long time before frowning and looking at my fake ID. I can feel her suspicion growing rapidly, "Where did you go and why the name change?"

"I have a history with some very bad people." I run a hand over my scalp, struggling to come up with a cover story. I decide to go with a measure of truth, "I got tangled up in a criminal syndicate after I ran away from home."

"Oh no." Mrs.; Honan's eyes go wide; "Don't tell me you got yourself mixed up with those Team Helix bastards?"

I remember the red DNA helix on the coats of the man in the woods that I fought, and the men on the island that I rescued Melissa from, and I laugh nervously. I don't even have to lie! "That's the one. I'm trying to get a fresh start, get as far away from them as I can."

Mrs. Honan nods solemnly as she begins typing on her computer. "I understand, but you should know that they're here in Luchsel too."

I pinch the bridge of my nose and groan, "So where can I get away from them?"

"Kanto, maybe?" Mrs. Honan shrugs, "But that's only because Team Rocket has a death Grip on that country."

"Can't the police do anything?" I ask, fully aware of the irony of my wish that the police were actually competent.

She just sighs and shakes her head. "Between their numbers and the strange weapons they use, the police just don't stand a chance. Besides, I'm pretty sure that Team Helix has most of the upper levels of government in their back pocket."

I point to the ID cards on her desk, "That's why I need citizenship or a visa or something. I spent most of my money getting here. Quite frankly I'd rather take my chances with the Rockets and a ticket to Kanto is not cheap." I smile as she nods and resumes typing. I might just be able to pull this off after all.

"There is just one problem." Mrs. Honan shakes her head. "I just contacted Crucci's database. You're still considered 'missing'." My stomach leaps into my throat. Mr. Cohen's acquaintance had made a record of a Daniel Vespers but he hadn't done anything to do with my old past! "Which means that these documents are not real."

I glance back at the door, half expecting a dozen officers with pokémon to bust through the door. I turn back to Mrs. Honan and give her a pleading look as I lean closer to her, "Ma'am, I just told you I got mixed up with some very bad people, and you just admitted they've got the government in their back pocket here. It's the same at home. I knew that I couldn't exactly get out by legitimate paths." I barely have to try to will tears to my eyes. I'm scared out of my mind right now. "There is nothing I want more than to start over. This is my only chance at life as a good man." Mrs. Honan eyes me warily as I lean forwards and tears start to run down my face, "Please. I'm begging you to just give me this one chance."

She stares at me for a long time, my heart falling with every second, and then "Okay." My eyes go wide and I suit up right. "I'll give you a visa, it'll be good for three years and will give you the opportunity to get a job and apartment rather than using your earnings from trainer battles to live in a league hostel."

I can't even hold the tears back as I sniffle and she hands me back my papers. I don't stop thanking her until she gives me my new visa. "Now get out of here and wipe those tears off your face." She shoos me out the door, "And stay out of trouble."

The door closes behind me and I wipe my eyes on my shirt sleeve. Miracles do happen after all. I rush outside and am practically sprinting by the time I reach Mr. Cohen's SUV across the lot. He chuckles as I practically leap into the car. "Someone chasing you?"

I shake my head and wipe my face again., "No, but I did finally get to use the move fake tears."

As the car pulls out, Mr. Cohen clears his throat, "They weren't fake though. I can read you well enough to tell that."

Rogue eyes me suspiciously, [there is only a couple things that make you cry. And none of them should have come up in there.]

"Things did not go according to plan. The woman I was working with actually knew my mother." I shake my head.

"What?!" [What?!] Rogue and Mr. Cohen exclaim in unison.

"Yeah, I had to spin a story about being on the run from Team Helix, and shed a few tears to get her to give me a work visa so I can earn the money to get to Kanto where Team Helix is not and try again to change citizenship."

Mr. Cohen lets out a low whistle. I don't know whether you are the luckiest or unluckiest guy I've ever met."

"Sometimes I think Arceus just likes to screw with me." I chuckle as I look out the window at the passing scenery. Up ahead I see the vaulting energy screens that surround the training fields to protect passing traffic from the stray pokémon attack. I glance over at Rogue and smile, "When was the last time we whooped up on some trainers?"

[Way too long ago.] Rogue replies with a grin and a wagging tail.

Mr. Cohen-"

"Way ahead of you." He interrupts with a chuckle as he pulls off the road into the parking lot by the fields. Rogue and I are barely out of the car before he drives off. I watch him go and scratch my head. "Guess he didn't want to stick around and watch."

Rogue just shrugs and starts walking towards the gate in the energy fences, [Unlike us he actually has a schedule he is trying to keep. One that has been severely disrupted by us.]

"Fair enough." We walk through the gates and I let out a low whistle. "Wow."

These fields are way nicer than the ones on Crucci. In addition to several standard league fields made of green concrete there are also a number of wild 'zones' modeled after different habitats. Trainers are all over with their pokémon. Rogue and I wander over to one of the league fields where a sceptile is engaged in a heated battle with a ninetails.

The sceptile leaps over a sweeping flamethrower attack and spits a spray of bullet seeds. The ninetails jukes and dive but can't avoid all of the green projectiles. To my surprise the ninetails actually stumbles under the force of the grass type attack.

"Will o' wisp, Ricin!" The ninetails trainer shouts from behind the reinforced barricade where he watches the match closely. With a flair of whirling tails, the field is set a light with blue green flames.

[Shit!] The sceptile hisses as he ducks and weaves through the field of foxfire, trying to close with the fire type. Without warning the sceptile suddenly plows into the ground and vanishes in a spray of concrete and dirt. Faint tremors run through the earth under my feet as the sceptile tunnels around underground. Ricin doesn't wait for the sceptile to reappear and instead unleashes a torrent of fire into the hole where the sceptile disappeared. The tremors cease immediately and smoke slowly rises from the hole.

Ricin stands at the edge of the hole which glows red from the heat of the attack as both trainers look on with shocked expressions. I start to step forwards to try and help, but Rogue stops me, [Wait.]

Ricin's ear's perk up and the ground suddenly shakes a split second before the sceptile explodes out of the ground beneath the ninetails. The force of the attack sends both pokémon into the air and the sceptile unleashes a powerful bomb seed attack pointblank into the stunned fire type. Both pokémon are engulfed by the ensuing explosion and they disappear in the maelstrom of green energy and smoke.

When the dust finally settles, the ninetails is flat on his back while the sceptile nurses a burnt arm. I clap as both trainers recall their pokémon into their pokéballs and step into the center of the field to exchange money. The sceptile's trainer is applying a full restore through the pokéball's medicine port as I walk over to him. He looks me over and frowns, "Have we met? You look familiar?"

Rogue and I glance at each other, have we ever liberated a pokémon from this guy before? I shake my head "I don't think so; I only just arrived in country a few weeks ago." I extend my hand, "My name's Daniel."

"Cal." He replies shaking my hand and he smiles a little. "Are you a trainer?"

"I don't really consider myself a trainer to be honest." I chuckle a little, "But I did recently get a trainer's license."

Cal kneels down in front of Rogue then looks up at me, "Do you mind I examine your mightyena?"

[I'm right here.] Rogue barks gruffly and Cal recoils a little.

"She prefers to be addressed directly." I chuckle, "Besides, we have more of a brother sister relationship than master…"

I trail off as Cal gives me a funny look before finishing my sentence for me, "Slave? I don't think most trainers have that sort of relationship with their pokémon either. It's usually more coach athlete than master slave."

"Regardless, if she could talk like you and me she would probably tell you that she was the one in charge."

[That's because I am in charge.] Rogue replies with a haughty toss of her mane.

Cal chuckles at Rogue and bows his head, "May I examine you, madam? I am a doctor, well, I'm in training to be one."

Rogue nods and gestures imperiously. Cal grins and begins to examine her fur. I crouch down next to him, "So, what's a doctor in training doing with a sceptile? Especially one as powerful as that one?"

"Impressive muscle mass and tone." Cal mutters as he runs his hands over Rogue's chest and neck. He shakes his head and looks at me, "Sorry. You mean Silas?" I nod and Cal chuckles, "That old lizard practically raised me. He was my mother's only pokémon and first love."

"Wait, what?" I shake my head, "Love?"

Cal laughs as he starts counting Rogue's teeth. "Not like that! They're just really close, and my mom refers to him that way. My dad was a one night stand, and though she never said I was a mistake I doubt I was planned. Silas was the main father figure in my life." He gives Rogue a quick scratch behind the ears before standing up and sighing, "She is an amazing specimen, but she seems very well battled. Except I thought you said you were a new trainer, what did you do before becoming a trainer that she would be so well battled?"

"Well," I chuckle sheepishly, "I'm kind of a traveler. We mostly lived wherever we wanted, and that was mostly the wild places of the world. We lived like the wild, killing and preparing our own food and clothing as needed."

Cal raises a eyebrow appreciatively, "So you're some sort of hardcore survivalist?"

"That's one way to put it." I grin, "And I bet we can kick Silas's butt."

Rogue looks up sharply, [You're joking.]

Cal laughs, "You're kidding."

With a predatory smile I pull a wad of cash out of my pocket. "Four hundred dollars says otherwise."

Cal's eyes widen at the sight of the cash and so does his smile. "We'll just have to see about that won't we?"

[You had better have a plan.] Rogue growls we walk back to the other side of the field. [This guy has me beat on raw power, and he's not an idiot.]

I kneel down next to Rogue as Cal reaches the other side where the other trainer shelter is. "Get him angry. If need be, taunt him. I think he might be into humans." I whisper, "If he uses dig again I'll keep track of him."

Rogue gives me a look then shakes her head and trots out onto the field where Silas is waiting. Silas looks Rogue over and laughs, [I think you'll find that that trained pokémon are far superior to the trash you fought in the woods.]

[Danny and I have fought for every scrap of food. We never relied on pokémon centers or the rules of some 'league' to protect us.] Rogue snorts and tosses her mane haughtily, [Besides, I have fought with legends you could only dream of glimpsing.]

"Ready!" Cal shouts, "Fight!"

Both pokémon explode into motion. Diving under a savage slash, Rogue lashes out with an iron tail that Silas barely leaps out of the way of. The sceptile takes a deep breath and spews a hail of bullet seeds, but Rogue practically vanishes as she uses a quick attack to evade Silas' attack. [You're a slow old fart.] Rogue snarls as she uses another quick attack to leap onto Silas' back. Silas whips around and his leaf blades slice through where rogue was but she is already behind him again. The sceptile lets out a roar as Rogue's thunder fang sends electricity arcing through his hindquarters.

Suddenly the two combatants vanish in a bright explosion of grass type energies. When the smoke clears the sceptile is gone and Rogue is picking herself up off the ground. I shut my eyes and enter wavesight. I can see the whole network of tunnels that Silas made in the last match and the new one he is making towards Rogue.

"Iron tail down!" I shout and Rogue obeys. Silas takes the attack straight to the face as he bursts from the ground underneath Rogue. His momentum carries both of them into the air. Rogue kicks off of the stunned pokémon and flips backwards to land gracefully with a huge grin on her face. Silas lands near a wide eyed Cal with far less grace.

[Fucking that human bitch has made you soft.] Rogue barks with a hint of a giggle.

Silas roars as he throws himself at Rogue. She dances just out of his reach, leading him around the field laughing at him. Even Cal can see that Silas is beginning to get careless. "Don't let her play you like this! Keep in control!"

Silas snarls something unintelligible as Rogue counters his leaf blade with an iron tail. Flipping back out of range, Rogue fires off a shadow ball at Silas. The violet ball of ghostly energy takes Silas full in the chest, but not before he manages to fire off a spray of bullet seeds.

I wince as the attacks slam into Rogue and she crashes to the ground, but she rolls to her feet clearly ready to go another round. Silas glares at her angrily but his claws are shaking slightly and his stance is wavering a little. Rogue shows o clear signs of damage, but her aura tells me her true situation, and it's gonna be a close fight. [Pretty pathetic, greenskin.] She barks, [I bet your bitch hits pretty much anything, the little whore. I mean for cal to be here she had to right? Must be hitting anything with a wang.] Rogue tosses her mane and chuckles as Silas begins trembling with rage. [Probably having herself a lovely little gangbang in the woods right now.]

Silas lets out a primal roar, white energy bursting to life in front of him. The hyperbeam lances out a moment later and I hit the deck as the beam slams into the barrier, destroying it and passing through the air inches from me to crash into the energy fence beyond. My eyes though are locked on rogue who had already been in motion as Silas was roaring and easily avoided the attack. Now Silas is fully exposed and vulnerable as he tries to regain his composure after the draining attack. Rogue's body glows white and her form blurs as she accelerates explosively, slamming into Silas.

The sceptile is sent flying with a boom. He skips twice over the hard field before rolling to a stop at the foot of Cal's bunker. Rogue stands shakily in the center of the field, drained by the use of gigaimpact and the hard fight as Silas struggles to rise. For several tense seconds all eyes are on the sceptile as Silas slowly climbs to his feet. A trickle of blood runs out the corner of his mouth and drips onto the ground as he stands, slowly swaying with his eyes moving in and out of focus.

Rogue is the first to regain the ability to fight and fires off a quick shadow ball . Silas slams backwards into the bunker and slides to the ground as Cal sprints around barrier and kneels next to the unconscious sceptile. He smiles sadly and returns Silas to his pokéball, "I've never lost a one on one battle. Your mightyena is truly amazing."

Rogue smiles and allows her knees to buckle so that she flops onto the ground. I brush off some rubble as I step over the barrier and walk out to her. I crouch down and gently stroke her mane, "You have no idea. She has saved my life more times than I can count."

Cal smiles back at me as he applies a full restore to Silas, "You said you were a hardcore survivalist, so I can safely assume you don't feed her commercial pokéchow."

"No," I laugh, "Not even close."

Cal digs into the pocket of his blue jeans and pulls out a pad and pen. He quickly scribbles an address and number, "I'm currently working through a course about pokémon nutrition and diets. It would be a huge help to me if you could come by some time and we could talk. Maybe let me use you as a case study?"

He tears the sheet of paper out of the notebook and holds it out to me. I pocket the info, "I'll try to find the time, but how about my winnings?"

"Oh, right. How much was the wager?"

"Four hundred dollars."

Cal cringes, "I don't have that kind of cash on me. Even with the earnings from the last match I only have a little over half that quantity."

"Then why the heck did you agree to the terms?" I ask in bewilderment.

"Hubris probably." Cal shrugs, "Like I said, I've never lost before."

"Silas is quite the battler, if he had kept his cool he probably would have won." I admit with a smile as I scratch Rogue behind the ears. "What sort of physical goods do you have on you. I noticed you using some full restore a moment ago."

Cal unclips a baseball sized cube from his belt and holds it up. "I've got this hip digipack and the handful of full restore's inside."

"Keep your cash and give me your goods." I chuckle, "That's about equivalent right?"

"Roughly." Cal concedes after a moment of deep thought and he tosses me the digipack. I fiddle with the device, fumbling with the touch screen interface as I try to select a full restore. I get it figured out after a couple seconds and the pack spits out a red beam that coalesces on the ground into an aerosol can of full restore.

"Pretty nifty." I smile and spray rouge with the healing medicine, careful to not get any on myself. Most pokémon meds are caustic and will burn flash or give you an irritating rash depending on its strength. "How's that feel? Better?"

With a series of pops and cracks Rogue rolls her neck and stretches before smiling at me, [Good as new but I'd rather not go another round. It's hard to beat someone without killing them at that level of power.]

I laugh and ruffle her mane, "I bet."

"Daaaaamn." Cal lets out a low whistle. "Take a look at that."

I follow Cal's Gaze over my shoulder to see an enormous aggron striding across the fields towards us. It must be nearly twenty feet tall, and I'm pretty sure I recognize the pink haired young woman riding on its shoulder armor. The very earth beneath our feet shakes as the aggron pulls up in front of us and the rider jumps off. She flips gracefully, falling much slower through the air than she should naturally to land on one knee in front of me with a sharp toothed grin. "Hey baldy. Who are your friends?"

I glance over at Cal who is staring up at the aggron with an awestruck look on his face. I jerk a thumb at him, "That's Cal. The mightyena is Rogue and she just finished beating up Cal's veteran sceptile. It was a pretty sweet match."

Kat nods, "Neato. Wanna go a couple rounds with me?"

[Fuck that!] Rogue barks, looking up at the enormous aggron. [No! Just, No!]

I laugh, "I doubt I could possibly produce the incentive for Rogue to fight her."

Cal snaps out of his stupor and looks at me in surprise. "Her?"

"See her nostrils? They're large, her horns are shorter, and she has smaller teeth than a male would." I gesture as I talk then smile and add. "Besides, she moves with a feminine grace. She's clearly a beautiful pokémon, don't you agree?"

The aggron stares at her feet and gives me an embarrassed smile. Cal peers at the steel type and shrugs. "She's certainly exceptional, but beautiful is not the term that I would use. 'Terrifying' or 'monstrous' feel more accurate to me."

"Oh hush." I wave Cal off and step around Cal to run a hand over the aggron's armor. "That's interesting. You're armor is incredibly well polished." I sniff her leg which causes Kat to snicker and the aggron to shift her weight uncomfortably. "And waxed too. Lavender fragrance I think." I look up at the aggron, "You work the beauty contest circuit don't you?"

If aggrons could blush I would swear that this one would be scarlet as she fiddles with a horn and refuses to meet my eyes.

"Are you _flirting_ with her?" Cal asks incredulously with more than a little disgust in his voice.

Rogue covers her eyes with a paw and Kat smirks as I turn and give Cal a look, "What's it to you if I am?"

"It's gross."

"He's into girls with big butts." Kat snickers.

I open my mouth to protest but shut it again and sigh, "I can neither deny nor confirm such an accusation, about liking big butts. However that particular charge is irrelevant seeing as I am in a committed relationship already."

"With a pokémon?" Call asks, making a face.

I sigh, "It's complicated."

Kat laughs at Cal's confused expression. "Regardless, he's right. We've been working the contest circuit." Kat gives me a predatory grin, "And I wasn't suggesting Rogue and Astrid fight. I meant you and me."

"You and I both know that's a bad idea." I laugh and she punches me in the face. Hard. My head snaps backwards and I stumble backwards a couple steps holding my jaw. Holy crap that hurt! "That's gonna leave a mark."

Psychic powers are good for more than reading minds and making weather forecasts." She smirks and slips into a fighting stance, "So are you going to fight me or do I have to hit you again?"

"What the crap is wrong with you two?" Cal asks incredulously as Kat dashes forwards and swings at me. I sway out of the way and give her a quick jab to her unprotected ribs. To my surprise she shrugs it off completely and elbows me in the face hard enough to make me see stars.

I stumble away from Kat but she presses the assault. Her fists come at me fast, faster than any human I've ever fought hand to hand with, but I'm faster still and deflecting her punches is not too difficult. "You know I can't fight you for real." I hiss quietly, throwing a couple of easily dodged punches.

"I thought you said you apprenticed under a Sinnoan monk?" Kat laughs loudly. "Show me some of those aura master skills you were bragging about to me the other day!"

That's an interesting alibi. "Fine!" I bark as the flames of my aura burst into existence around my hands. Grabbing both of her hands I roll backwards, pulling her over me before kicking out with both feet as she is pulled over me. Kat is launched into the air but she merely tucks into a ball and flipping once before opening to land gracefully on her feet.

I launch myself off the ground, arcing gracefully over Kat's hammering fists, and concrete cracks under the force of her strike. No sooner have my feet touched down than Kat is already trying to roundhouse kick me in the face. Blocking her kick with one arm I slam my knee into her solar plexus hard enough to lift her up off her feet. To my surprise she shrugs it off and punches me in the kidney. She must be psychically shielding herself from my attacks. Turning with her blow, I whip my elbow around into her temple. She stumbles back under the force of the blow and I rush her with a flurry of dark tinged strikes. The black flames punch right through her psychic shielding. I grin as her eyes go wide in shock and pain.

Suddenly I find myself thrown backwards by a powerful psychic blast. I skip along the ground before rolling to my knees and catching a vicious hammer kick in both hands. I feel the ground shake as the power of the kick passes through my body. With a vicious twist I rip her leg out of joint with an audible pop and she lets out a cry of pain. Kat crashes to the ground and lays there as I take a few steps back. She gives me a pained grimace and croaks, "You win."

Shutting her eyes she knits her brow in concentration and a soft pink glow encapsulates her hip. Her leg visibly shifts as she psychically pops the limb back into socket with a grunt. I nod and examine myself. I'm a bit roughed up, I'm pretty sure my face is bruised and I'm bleeding in a couple spots, but the biggest injury has to be my shirt and pants. They're dirty and torn in half a dozen places. "Damn it. These were new clothes." I complain as I brush myself off.

"What the fuck are you guys?!" Cal exclaims as I help Kat back to her feet.

Kat just gives him a sweet smile, "I'm an incredibly gifted psychic and he was trained by a Sinnoan monk and lucario to fight using the power of aura."

I chuckle, "I'm what some might call 'gifted'."

Cal shakes his head, "Neither one of you are human."

"Which good, because Vespi isn't either." Kat chuckles.

"And you're a crazy bitch." We all turn to see Gile and Melissa standing behind us.

[You're Vespi?] Astrid asks as she steps closer to Melissa, [Kat exaggerated a lot. I was expecting someone much fatter.]

Gile snickers and Melissa jabs him in the side before smiling up at Astrid, "Is that so?"

Lifting a hand, Melissa fires a small water pulse that knocks Kat off her feet. Cal and I stare at Melissa with equally dumbfounded expressions. Probably for different reasons though.

"Is that a mew?" Cal asks with an amusing mix of reverence and confusion.

"No." Kat rolls her eyes as she sits up and starts wringing out her drenched shirt. "There is only one Mew, and she is way daintier."

"I _was_ human." Melissa puts her hands on her hips. "But that is obviously no longer entirely the case."

"Now do you understand what I mean when I say it's complicated?" I chuckle and put an arm around Melissa's shoulders, "Cal I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Melissa Cohen."

Cal's eyes go wide as saucers, "You wouldn't happen to be the Melissa Cohen who founded Compassion Daily would you?"

Melissa smiles, "Well, yeah. I've been a bit busy as of late." She gestures to herself, "Things have gotten a little crazy so I haven't updated the page or been to any events lately."

"Makes sense." Cal chuckles, "But this new change presents a lot of opportunities for Compassion Daily."

"Really?" Melissa steps out from under my arm, "What do you mean?"

Cal smiles, "You're part pokémon now! That is both amazing and very practical for a bunch of future public service announcements."

"Do tell." Melissa takes Cal by the arm and they walk off together leaving me and Kat dumbfounded with Rogue and Astrid. Kat slowly shakes her head.

"I didn't realize you had hooked up with a mini celebrity." Kat climbs to her feet and shakes the water out of her hair.

I shrug. "I had no idea. She hadn't mentioned it. What is Compassion Daily?"

"They have something to do with supporting pokémon shelters and advocating for abused pokémon." Kat pushes her hair back out of her eyes. "I thought she would be more pissed about you and me being in the same place at the same time. Especially considering her jealous outbursts last time."

I shrug and roll my shoulders, "She obviously is passionate about more than just me. I guess I take a backseat to Compassion Daily, and that's okay. I'd hate to be the only thing she thought about day and night."

Kat laughs and continues drying herself off as best she can. "So when a runaway goes home, where does he go?"

Rogue's eyes narrow and her hackles rise, [She better not be getting any ideas about bounties.]

Kat eyes Rogue and shuffles over so that I am between her and the mightyena. "Touchy subject?"

I laugh and put a hand on Rogue's head, "No. Well, yes, but that's not why she's feeling threatened."

[I'm not 'threatened', Dante.] Rogue growls and shrugs my hand off, [I'm threaten_ing_.]

"If you were thinking about turning us in, I would sincerely advise against it." I give Kat a sarcastically sweet smile. "Rogue is a tad overprotective, and if she doesn't kill you on the spot Gin will hunt you down and murder you in the street before coming to bust me out of jail."

Kat laughs, "Turn you in?! Why would I do a silly thing like that? The world is so much more interesting with freaks like us in it." She gives me that sharp toothed grin again, "I'm not nearly as interesting as you though and my question still stands."

Rogue calms down a little and I smirk, "Home is wherever we, my family, rest our heads. Currently that is at Melissa's place. I do hope to one day have a place of our own."

Kat gives me an odd look, "The world is yours. What place isn't yours to live in as you please?"

[Here we go again.] Rogue drops to the ground with a huff.

"What's with her? Kat asks in bewilderment.

I just laugh, "Let's sit down; it's kind of a long story."

Astrid lays down so that Kat and I can lean against her armored side. "I don't often talk about my father much." I start with a grimace, "There is a lot of bad blood between us, but he did occasionally say some good stuff. He said that everybody wants to be a god, because a god can take whatever he desires."

"I'd say you probably succeeded." At grins, "You went easy on me and kicked my ass. I'm sure you could take just about whatever you wanted."

"But what if what I want most can't be taken by force of arms?" I ask with a sad smile, "My dad also said that to be a god one must sacrifice everything they have, and you never really know what you have till it's gone."

Kat nods slowly, understanding beginning to dawn. She looks at me, "What did you have to sacrifice?"

I chuckle, "Normal? I never really wanted superpowers. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy them, but what I really just want to have a normal, complete, loving family. Like the one that Rogue, Gin, and I used to have."

"What does someone like you know about normal?" Kat chuckles.

"Not a whole heck of a lot. I just know I used to have it." I sigh and rub my eyes, "Somehow I'm supposed to help Melissa get back to normal again."

"What's her deal anyway and what do you have to do with it?"

"I think their called Team Helix." I shrug. "I've run into them a couple times over the years, but Melissa stumbled onto a lab of some kind that they were running. So they kidnapped her and used her as a test subject, and now she is what she is. I happened to be at the right place at the right time and ran a pretty standard rescue op."

"And now she has fallen head over heels for her savior." Kat snickers.

"That's closer to the truth than I'd like."

[It's worse than that actually.] Rogue yawns and trots over to sit between us. [You were already an obsession or a hobby at best.]

I grimace and Kat laughs, "What did she say?"

"The island lab was not the first place we met." I shake my head, "She was the first person we rescued a pokémon from." I laugh, "Gin and I came riding in on a pissed off arcanine to liberate the growlithe she just caught. Apparently I made quite an impression on her, because she has followed every single news article about me since then. She has binders full of clippings."

Kat lets out a low whistle, "What was that, four years ago?"

"Eight actually." I reply flatly.

"Damn." Kat looks at me, "So she knows everything about you and you know nothing about her."

"Pfft." I laugh, "Not even close. She knows very little of the truth about me. More than most, but hardly the whole picture." Watching Melissa and Cal talk I realize just how little I actually know about her. We know next to nothing about each other that really matters. We are strangers in love. Kat and I watch as Cal releases Silas and they all start talking about something. Melissa gets animated as she tells Silas a story, gesturing wildly with her hands. She glances back at us and frowns.

Kat leans over Rogue and whispers in my ear, "Remember that jealousy I was expecting?"

"Now maybe?"

"Yeah." Kat replies and kisses me on the cheek. Melissa's eyes flash and her aura spikes so hard I'm pretty sure even Cal sees it. Kat cackles and leaps straight up into the air as a massive psychic blast rockets towards us, churning up the earth in between.

Kat lands gracefully on Astrid's back just as the blast hits home. The world spins as I slam into Astrid's side and am tossed skyward. Rogue just sits there with a shit eating grin as the ground craters around her. Even Astrid is rocked back, nearly onto her side under the force of the blow.

I end up sprawled out in the dirt with a bloody nose and a splitting headache. Sitting up and shaking my violently head to try and clear out the static I cough, "Good power, though your aim could use some work."

The world spins and I fall over again. Maybe whipping my head back and forth after getting blown sky high by a psychic attack was a bad idea.

"Better luck next time, Vespi!" Kat calls back to us as Astrid runs off with Kat on her shoulder once more. Shakily I climb to my feet and brush myself off, again.

Melissa storms over as I arch my back and stretch, "What the hell was that?"

I laugh and wipe my nose with the back of my arm. "That was Kat finally getting you jealous again."

She eyes me, digging through my head as Gile strolls over with a huge grin. [So that's the girl that pissed you off the other day. I think I like her.]

Melissa's jaw works wordlessly for a moment then she turns on Gile, "What the hell is there to like?! She's a punk!"

[She did get you to blow Danny sky high.] Gile points out with a chuckle, [And anyone who can smack Danny around is alright by me.]

"Then you'll love this." I grin, "She's got a hell of a punch herself. I'm probably gonna have a couple bruises on my face before long."

Gile laughs and claps his hands giddily, [We should definitely have her over for dinner some time.]

"No." Melissa says flatly before turning and nearly running Cal over. Even though he stumbles backwards and nearly falls over he doesn't take his eyes off me for a moment. I know the look he is giving me well. It's the same one I always got whenever I knocked a trainer on their ass before I liberated a pokémon: Surprise, disbelief, and a healthy dash of fear. My stomach does a little flip and I can feel my limbs loosening as my body readies itself for fight or flight. I look around at the other trainers with their pokémon. Rogue and I could probably fight our way out of here, but people would die and all hope of a normal life would be gone.

"You're him."

Melissa looks from Cal to me and back again. Her ears flatten against her head and her eyes narrow as she glares at Cal, the full implications of his awestruck statement sinking in.

"Yes." I reply quietly, clenching and unclenching my fists, "I didn't train under a Sinnoan monk."

Cal shakes himself and hurriedly steps away from Melissa and trips over Rogue. The mightyena gets in his face and snarls, [If you so much as whimper, I'll tear your throat out.]

A pair of thin blades gently press against my neck, [If any of you so much as twitch in that boy's direction, I'll slice through both of the Runaway's carotid arteries.] Silas hisses, and then whispers in my ear, [Not even you could move fast enough to save yourself.]

I look at Cal's pale, fear stricken face and in spite of myself I smile. "You know, I never thought it would end this way. A quick slip of blades against my throat. I always thought it would be a long drawn out fist fight with lots of blood lost on both sides." I clear my throat nervously and force my self to take even breaths before whispering, "He's your son isn't he?"

The blades press a little tighter against my skin and I chuckle, "Melissa, what's the current bounty at?"

"Twelve thousand five hundred dollars." She replies quietly, a fire burning in her eyes that scares me nearly as much as the blades against my skin.

"Is his life worth that to you Silas?" I hiss under my breath, "You can't kill me and save him, and quite frankly I don't want him dead either."

Cal looks from Rogue's teeth to me and swallows hard. Sweat is breaking out on both our faces as I smile at him. "This may be a bad time to bring this up, but I was interested in helping out with the next Compassion Daily event." Everybody stares at me incredulously and I chuckle, "You know, help pokémon through more _legal_ avenues."

[I have your life in my claws right now and you want to talk about tomorrow?] Silas trills in confusion.

"give me a break man. I'm kinda new at this whole scheduling thing." I retort as I summon a protect field between me and Silas' blades. They are forced off my neck for a split second and I blast forwards using extreme speed. Grabbing Cal I spin and toss him away from Rogue. I slide to a stop and Cal tumbles past me. "Now both of you chill the fuck out before someone gets hurt."

Rogue and Silas stare at me in shock. I roll my eyes, "I'm good at that whole last second escape thing, okay? Now let's just keep our-"

There is a bright flash and I curse as Silas is hammered by Melissa's hyperbeam attack. I can barely see the sceptile through the blinding glow of raw power that has engulfed him. The beam flickers and dies, and the sceptile sways for a moment before crumpling to the dirt a charred and bloody mess. I dash over and kneel next to the badly wounded sceptile. Skin and muscle has been torn from his chest to reveal his ribs and even some damaged internal organs.

His eyes roll wildly in his head as he struggles to breath with part of his diaphragm gone and at least one lung punctured. Blood dribbles from his lips as I fumble with the digipack, and after a few moments the cube yields it's entire store of full restores. I take a spray can in each hand and begin spraying the sceptile with the healing medicine. Charred flesh flakes off and blood begins to flow as new flesh grows underneath and forces the dead tissue out. All too soon my cans are empty. I grab the next two and begin again.

"Help me goddamnit!" I shout at Cal, "Aren't you supposed to be a doctor or something?"

The sceptile is healing rapidly as Cal rushes over and grabs the last can of full restore, but I can tell it isn't going to be enough. Silas is just losing too much blood, and my knees are wet with his blood as it runs across the concrete. "I'm training to be a toxicology specialist, not a trauma doctor!" Cal exclaims, clearly terrified. "I just don't have the skills for any of this."

The last of the medicine is gone and still a large swathe of flesh is missing from the sceptile's side. Blood slowly runs from the wound and his aura flickers weakly. Not even a pokémon center can save him now.

"Isn't aura the power of life itself? Can't you do something?" Cal pleads with tears in his eyes. I frown, but then his meaning hits me. I _can_ save him.

The world shrinks to just Silas as I enter wavesight. His aura is weak and dissipating slowly from his wounds. Placing my hands on the center of his aura I use calm mind to cool my own fear and anger. He feels so small and alone under my hands, a child staring into the face of a great darkness that threatens to swallow him whole.

Gently I push my own aura into Silas' flickering light. Our flames mix and memories and emotions foreign to me flood my consciousness. A poachers trap, anger and hate for the girl that rescued him, emotions that turned to respect and love, and an impossible child that neither could dare explain. All this hits me in a moment and nearly knocks me on my ass, but I shake it off and keep pushing my energy to mix with his.

I can feel his wounds slowly healing as my whole being merges and mixes with his. A stabbing pain and a warm wetness distract me for a moment and I faintly comprehend the exchange of wounds before pushing on. Silas' side closes and I sigh as some of my aura returns to me but much of it remains in Silas like a white scar on his soul.

I open my eyes to find Silas staring up at me in shock and something else that I can't quite identify. Suddenly my strength vanishes and I slump over next to Silas in a pool of blood. My shirt clings to my bleeding side and I touch it gingerly. My hand comes away a violently bright red in the harsh sunlight. I can't help but wonder at the beauty of it.

"This is a little more how I thought I would end." I smile at Silas as my vision blurs, "Bloody as hell."

I slowly shut my eyes and drift somewhere far, far away.


End file.
